EU hearings: Lord Hill failed to convince Brussels he can be Europe’s next finance commisioner
Lord Jonathan Hill, the candidate to become Europe’s chief finance man, has failed to convince EU committee members in Brussels of his suitability for the job.
Hill will now face another hearing in front of MEPs next week after a three hour grilling in Brussels today.
Hill, whose candidacy as financial services commissioner is backed by David Cameron, spent the day being cross-examined by members of the European parliament vetting him for the position.
Hill told MEPs in an apparently Hugh-Grant-like performance, that he will act in the interest of all 28 member states and was not a representative of the City of London.
He said: "I am not here as a representative of the City of London, I am here to represent the European interest. I have a very clear and simple view – it is in the interests of the EU for Britain to be in it, and for Britain to be in the EU."
A “political quiet man”, some in Brussels worry his interests are too close to the City. Hill is a Conservative peer and former education minister and lobbyist.