Sir Jon Cunliffe, the UK’s permanent representative to the EU, is leaving Brussels to join the Bank of England as deputy governor. Ivan Rogers, who is currently working as Prime Minister David Cameron’s adviser on Europe and global issues, is expected to be named in the coming weeks as Cunliffe’s replacement.
Rogers will be taking over at a delicate time in the UK's relations with the EU, with Cameron seeking to repatriate powers from Brussels to London, and his party pledging an in/out referendum on EU membership in 2017.
MP Bill Cash, the chairman of the House of Commons European Scrutiny Committee, has written to Cameron requesting that his committee question Rogers in advance of his appointment.
Although pre-appointment hearings are a familiar feature of the American political system, they are only beginning to gain ground in the UK.
Committee can summon witnesses if necessary
Bill Cash told EurActiv that the UK parliament’s liaison committee – another influential body which consists of the chairmen of all the other committees – has also made a strong case for the pre-appointment hearing.
Cash said that since the post of permanent representative involves legislative decision-making that comes under the remit of his committee, “it is an issue of accountability to Parliament”.
The committee has suggested that the hearing could take place in early September, Cash said, adding that he had asked Cameron to explain his reasoning if he refused the request.
Cash – a leading conservative eurosceptic – refused to be drawn on what actions the committee may take if its request is turned down, but his committee has the right to summon witnesses to appear before it if necessary.
Any questioning of Rogers is likely to focus on his policy background. He is credited with strengthening the UK’s relations with Germany in recent months, a relationship critical if Cameron is to succeed in his aim of repatriating significant powers from Brussels.
His political background may cause some concern to the Conservative party’s eurosceptic wing. In the 1990s he worked as chief of staff to the vice-president of the European Commission, Lord Leon Brittan, and he previously worked as a political private secretary to Kenneth Clarke, the then Chancellor of the Exchequer.
Both Brittan and Clarke are seen as figurehead pro-Europeans within the Conservative party.
