They also pointed to what they say is his “lack of clarity” when asked whether the Hungarian government should have distributed Russian and Chinese vaccines during the Covid-19 crisis.

It is now 24 hours old to answer questions – until the end of the day on Friday – before MPs decide on Monday whether to give him the job.

First, they highlighted questions about how she would advance women’s rights in this role, asking for concrete steps she would take to promote access to and delivery of sexual and reproductive health care.

Second, they asked how he would encourage the uptake of vaccines approved by the European Medicines Agency and how he would combat vaccine hesitancy and misinformation in EU countries, including his own.

They also want to know how he will keep countries on track to meet antimicrobial resistance targets and whether he will consider legislative action on the issue and whether he will pursue food health labels.

And it urges him on how it will help farmers meet their EU animal welfare obligations across the bloc.

The letter, from the coordinators of each political group, also says that the MPs “deeply regret” that he did not apologize on his own initiative for a “derogatory” remark he made last year – when he called MPs “idiots” – about which it is said. “calls into question the respect and sincere cooperation with this Parliament and its members”.