More than 300,000 people have signed a petition to stop Miguel Arias Cañete’s appointment as Commissioner for Climate Action and Energy ahead of a European Parliament confirmation hearing today (1 October).

Cañete, a Spanish conservative criticised for his links to the oil industry, will face MEPs in the European Parliament at 18.00 pm Brussels time.

The online petition to block the Comissioner-designate will be delivered to MEPs ahead of the hearing. It had originally set a target of 250,000 signatures.

A separate protest, organised by the left-wing Podemos party, and involving MEPs and NGOs, will be held close to the Parliament before Cañete is cross-examined.

>> Read: Cañete faces protests before EU confirmation hearing

Parliament only has the power to approve or reject the new Commission as a whole. But, if the hearing goes badly, they can also put pressure on Commission President-elect Jean-Claude Juncker to replace an individual candidate.

Italian centre-right candidate Rocco Buttiglione had to withdraw in 2004, after socialist, liberal and green groups threatened to reject his candidacy over reports that he said that homosexuality is a sin.

Both the European People’s Party, of which Cañete is a member, and the Socialists, have warned each other they will retaliate if any of their Commissioners were challenged during the hearings. But, as with Buttiglione, Cañete could be replaced for non-political reasons.

‘Forgotten’ salary

Yesterday, Cañete altered his declaration of interests to include a salary for acting as president of the national electoral committee for his Partido Popular party before the 2011 elections.

A PP spokesman told Spain’s El Pais that he has “probably forgotten” to include the salary, which was less than €30,000 a year.

While the amount is understood to have nothing to do with any potential conflict of interest, it’s a big blunder from one of the candidates likely to face the strongest scrutiny from MEPs.

Cañete was forced to sell his shares in two oil companies, Petrolifera Ducar and Petrologis Canaris, to shore up support after being chosen as climate action and energy boss.

But critics have pointed out that his wife, son and brother in law remain shareholders or even sit on boards of the companies.

Spanish press reports have said that when he was an MEP in 1996, Cañete fought for Common Agricultural Policy subsidies. His wife, who breeds bulls for bullfighting, benefited from those subsidies.

She was later investigated for profiting through possible access to privileged information from Cañete’s time as Spain’s agriculture minister.

Responding to written question before his hearing, Cañete promised to strictly obey the code of conduct for Commissioners.

He said, “I will never act on issues of my portfolio in which I could have personal, familial or financial interests that could compromise my independence. If I am faced with a situation of this nature I will proceed immediately to inform the president of the Commission.”

Oops, #climate commissioner #Cañete ‘forgot’ to declare a job that earned him up to 5000€ per month #EPhearings2014 pic.twitter.com/s7DLj6HAwI — Friends of the Earth (@foeeurope) October 1, 2014