MEPs used a confirmation hearing on Thursday to complain bitterly about the title, and badgered Schinas with questions about it, including at some points asking if he would join them in demanding that it be changed.
But Schinas, who served as the Commission's chief spokesman for five years until his recent nomination, deftly managed those concerns, partly by defending President-elect von der Leyen and partly by insisting that he very much respects the views of those who object to the title.
In the end, his efforts proved successful, and the three major pro-EU political groups — the European People's Party, the Socialists and Democrats and the centrist-liberal Renew Europe — approved his nomination by a two-thirds majority, and did so without requiring a change in title as a precondition for their support.
"MEPs judged Schinas' performance as good and there is no conditionality," one EPP insider said.
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