Nominee for European Digital Job Explains Positions in Hearing

Telecommunications investment. Data protection reforms. Cellphone roaming charges. Günther Oettinger, the nominee to be the European Union’s next digital economy commissioner, would have a lot on his plate.

The tasks that would await him were outlined in a three-hour hearing when members of the European Parliament peppered Oettinger, a 61-year-old German politician, with questions about how he would manage the diverse challenges that he would inherit by taking up the position on Nov. 1. Throughout the lengthy question-and-answer session, Oettinger emphasized that he wanted to create greater connections across the 28-member bloc, and that more investment was needed by local companies if Europe was to keep pace with other regions like the United States and Asia.