The candidate for the Commission of the smallest country in the European Union takes a step forward.

In the run-up to his hearing, Malta’s Glenn Micallef grabbed attention for all the wrong reasons: he’s young (35); he is a man (and his country did not present a second female candidate for the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen); and had never held a ministerial position.

He brought Micallef the relatively light portfolio of intergenerational fairness, youth, culture and sport. But von der Leyen promoted intergenerational fairness – the idea of ​​not harming future generations – as a key concept in her program and asked the youngest-ever commissioner to come up with a strategy to support it.

The hearing could cover several other thorny topics: creators and artists see their work threatened by the rise of artificial intelligence, while young people face a myriad of issues, including mental health issues and cyberbullying. It could all lead to a heated exchange with MPs.

Catch all the action on Monday 4 November from 2.30pm

In the meantime, you can find some background reading here:

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