It helped that after the first section of the hearing, MEPs didn’t have a chance to follow up on their questions after Brunner’s replies. Here are the highlights from his confirmation hearing.
Speaking to both sides of the aisle
Though he hails from the conservative European People’s Party, Brunner came prepared to convince both the center left and center right to back him as the European Commission’s new migration czar. Brunner threw out red meat to the conservatives by insisting on the need to enhance the EU’s deportation policy, beef up the Frontex border agency and develop new tools for the EU’s internal security. Then he turned to the center left, arguing that “another piece of unfinished business is legal pathways to attract talent” — explicitly name-checking a pledge in the socialists’ election manifesto.
The trick appeared to work as Brunner avoided censure by either big faction or any groups on the far left or far right. Brunner was also careful to pay homage to the European Parliament. In this sense, he’s looking to the future: If the European Commission wants to push through new legislation on migration, including a new policy on deportations, he will need Parliament’s support. In the past, that’s been a nonstarter. Now, with a bigger right-wing faction in Parliament, migration hawks believe they can win support for tougher policies.
Committing to new legislation on deportations
Brunner publicly backed Commission President Ursula von der Leyen’s promise to put forward a new deportations directive (known in EU jargon as the “returns directive”), but he didn’t give details on when the Commission will be in the position to announce the proposal, despite being pressured by several lawmakers. He would only say Parliament should not expect to have a draft before June 2025, once the Commission’s consulted stakeholders, including NGOs.
“I commit [to] providing parliament with relevant information when it comes to comprehensive partnerships with third countries,” he added.
BFFs with Frontex and Europol
Among Brunner’s favorite subjects during his hearing was Frontex, Europe’s border agency, which he repeatedly referred to as a sort-of catch-all solution to migration. Seated across from Frontex’s former boss Fabrice Leggeri, who’s now a far-right MEP with France’s National Rally party, Brunner pledged to bolster Frontex’s staff to 30,000 during his mandate and modernize the bloc’s border policing technology. “This will help Frontex make a bigger contribution to helping member states,” he said. This is in keeping with proposals from the conservative European People’s Party, to which Brunner belongs, to triple the border agency’s staff from 10,000 currently.