BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Parliament's culture committee voted on Monday to reject the nomination of Hungarian Tibor Navracsics as education and culture commissioner, though it accepted that he could be a part of the EU executive in another role, lawmakers said.
"First defeat for Juncker!" tweeted Spanish Green Ernest Maragall, saying the vote went 14-12 against the Hungarian in a move that may disrupt the line-up of the team proposed by incoming European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker.
However, parliamentary sources, including in the center-right EPP group to which both Juncker and Navracsics belong, said that the party believed that by depriving the Hungarian of only a small part of his original portfolio, Juncker could avoid a major reshuffle of the 27-strong team he has proposed.
There was no immediate comment on such a plan from the centre-left S&D group, the second-biggest in parliament behind the EPP. Its members voiced sharp criticism during Navracsics' confirmation hearing last week, noting his role as a minister in a Hungarian government which has clashed with the EU over policies on education, the media, judiciary and minority rights.
Under a deal described by an EPP source, however, the two biggest parties would ask Juncker and parliamentary speaker Martin Schulz of the S&D at a meeting on Tuesday to let Navracsics take charge of education, culture and youth, but not of citizenship. A parliamentary official said that such a proposal was expected to be studied by Juncker and Schulz.
Such a minor tweak in his role may be insufficient for some critics of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban's government. And with several other nominees facing resistance from other committees, Navracsics' fate is likely to be bound up with a broader package deal between Juncker and the main parliamentary groups.
Parliament is due to hold a single confirmation vote on the Commission as a whole on Oct. 22. It is due to take office on Nov. 1.
(Reporting by Alastair Macdonald and Jan Strupczewski; Editing by Dominic Evans)