THE European Parliament will begin grilling the 28 candidates for the new European Commission today—and MEPs are determined to leave their mark on the new team. With the power to veto the entire commission team, the parliament has in the past successfully rejected candidates. Some parliamentarians are looking to add to that tally. MEPs are in a confident mood after outmaneuvering the European Council earlier this summer to secure the appointment of Jean-Claude Juncker (pictured) as president of the commission. David Cameron, the British prime minister. had made it his personal mission to overturn the so-called Spitzenkandidaten process, in part because of his damming take on a roll-call of Brussels insiders, but also to resist an overt power grab by the parliament. Angela Merkel, Germany’s chancellor, shared some of Mr Cameron’s misgivings, but ultimately the council gave in. Only the controversial Hungarian prime minister, Viktor Orban, joined Mr Cameron in voting against Mr Juncker’s appointment.

Emboldened by that success, the parliament has set its sights on Mr Juncker's appointments. Britain’s Jonathan Hill is the primary target for left-wing MEPs. Nominated for the financial services brief, Sven Giegold of the Greens likened Mr Hill’s nomination to letting a “fox guard the henhouse”. Mr. Hill’s past as a lobbyist, including for the financial sector, provides easy ammunition. As a sop to MEPs, responsibility for bonuses has been carved out of Mr Hill's portfolio and handed to the incoming justice minister, Věra Jourová. A more profound concern remains having a commissioner from a country that is not a member of the euro zone in charge of a brief critical to the zone’s progress towards banking union. Mr Hill can expect to be tarred with the Euroscepticism of his colleagues in the Tory party and tested over his support for greater euro-zone integration.

Rather than provoke Britain some MEPs are turning their attention to the rest of the new group of commissioners. Slovenia’s former prime minister, Alenka Bratušek, is to become vice-president for energy union. She will have the awkward task of justifying why she nominated herself as commissioner even though the incoming Socialist government is trying to replace her with one of their own.The putative agriculture commissioner, Ireland's Phil Hogan, faces a hostile hearing after threatening legal action against an Irish MEP, Nessa Childers, who alleged that he racially discriminated against a Traveller family during his time in government. Spain’s Miguel Arias Cañete will suffer an ear-bashing over his climate change credentials as he seeks the energy and climate action portfolio. Even though he has recently sold significant shareholdings in two oil companies, the Greens claim a conflict of interest as his family still retain shares and sit on the company boards. Hungary's former foreign minister, Tibor Navracsics, pencilled in for the education and culture brief, will be dragged over the coals for the illberal streak of the ruling Fidesz party, which he belongs to. His involvement in a repressive media law will earn particularly fierce interrogation.

The hearings promise to be the most political to date but MEPs will be wary of undermining Mr Juncker so soon after his appointment. The coming weeks are also an opportunity for the parliament to consolidate its success in the summer. Whether or not MEPs will claim a victim this time around, expect them to keep flexing their muscles in the coming years.