Oettinger questioning in European Parliament may focus on past

Brussels (dpa) - In a hearing set for later Monday, EU Commissioner Guenther Oettinger is likely to have to answer questions not only about his future plans, but also about his past blunders.The two-hour session is intended for asking the new European budget and human resources commissioner questions about his finance and personnel plans for the coming years. But several members of parliament are expected to question Oettinger on controversial affairs that the EU lawmaker was involved in last year.Oettinger has come under critique for his use of the derogatory term "slant eyes" to describe Chinese people and saying women wouldn‘t be able to reach top jobs if it weren‘t for preferential treatment.In November Oettinger apologized for using the expression "slant eyes" but played down the comments, calling it a "casual remark" which was not meant to be harmful.Critics consider Oettinger unfit for the top personnel position, not only because of his remarks, but also due to an incident in which he flew in a Russian honorary consul‘s private plane.Oettinger flew in Klaus Mangold‘s private jet to Budapest to meet with Hungarian Prime Minister Victor Orban on May 18, according to his own accounts.The flight was later deemed "not a conflict of interest," according to a European Commission spokesman.Under European Commission rules, top officials are not allowed to accept gifts of more than 150 euros (158 dollars) - a threshold that the value of the chartered flight exceeds.Monday‘s hearing won‘t likely have any effect on Oettinger‘s position as commissioner, since the parliament can‘t oust individual members of the European Commission, but only the entire commission using a no-confidence vote.