Heading to his new top position, Paolo Gentiloni is set to be the new European Commissioner for Economic Affairs. The 65-year-old Italian aristocrat has faced and convinced MEPs that he is the right man for this job. The reform of the euro area and the revision of EU fiscal rules at the centre of the hearing.

He said those rules are not perfect and should be changed but he reassured: he will work on debt reduction while giving flexibility if needed. However, his conciliatory tones seemed vague to the German conservative Markus Ferber. “I don’t find any concrete answer - he said-. He was describing the problems but we know already which are the problems. We need a commissioner who delivers solutions and that’s what is disappointing for me. I wanted to hear more commitments from him”.