The UK’s new—and potentially last—European Commissioner last night faced several hours of grilling by MEPs before he can formally take up his position.

Sir Julian King will be the new—and first—Security Union Commissioner after the role was created for him by commission president Jean-Claude Juncker. After kicking off the hearing speaking French, King then confidently tackled technical questions on border control, data protection, encryption, passenger name records (PNR), surveillance, and cybercrime.

Initially however, members of the European Parliament’s civil liberties committee wanted to know how King would balance being the British commissioner during Brexit negotiations, and the requirement to represent only EU interests. “If you’d told me a few months ago that I’d be sitting here I’d probably not have believed you. It is a particular situation. For the avoidance of any doubt, I’d like to make absolutely clear that I will fulfil my tasks to the best of my ability serving the European general interest, and only the European general interest,” said King in his opening statement, adding that he saw “no contradiction.”

Despite repeated questioning from MEPs, King, a former UK ambassador to France, wouldn’t be drawn on why he, a diplomat rather than a politician, had been put forward for the job. King was nominated by then-prime minister David Cameron on July 7 and confirmed by new prime minister Theresa May in a phone conversation with Juncker on July 14.

In typical diplomatic fashion, King stressed the need “to support the European Cybercrime Centre so it becomes the central hub in the fight against cybercrime,” to encourage law enforcement agencies “to investigate effectively [with] access digital evidence,” and to collaborate more in the fight against terrorism.

“We need to look at how we share information across various systems. Current arrangements are complex and fragmented. Respecting purpose limitations, we need to look at how to make best use of existing information at EU level. We need to ensure the quality of data going into our systems, that it is processed appropriately and that it is available to the right people when they need it—all the time respecting our rules on data protection. We should pursue the work of the High Level Group on IT systems. And this should provide a basis for action,” he said.

However that polished diplomacy was mocked by some on Twitter:

Meanwhile Dutch MEP Sophie in ’t Veld accused King of “ducking questions” on cryptography restrictions and backdoors “like a true diplomat" and failing to answer her question on ensuring accountability for the role played by EU countries in CIA renditions.

On encryption, King, while not categorically ruling anything in or out, did say that he believed encryption backdoors would weaken the online ecosystem as a whole.

Regarding data protection questions he was likewise diplomatic saying he would “respect purpose limitations,” citing recent court rulings in the Digital Rights Ireland and the Max Schrems cases. “Exceptions should be necessary, proportionate and legal,” he said.

On how to tackle terrorist propaganda and hate speech online, the new commissioner was more inventive: “In addition to our efforts on the EU Internet Forum and Europol's Internet Referral Unit, we should pursue the possibility of a joint referral platform with the Internet industry, and explore whether social media companies can do more to take down unacceptable content.”

But he pointed out that “there is clearly a difference between hate speech or incitement to violence that is against the law, and a second category that is propaganda that is undesirable,” but not technically illegal. “I haven’t got a ready-made answer,” King admitted, but suggested that “making sure that there are alternative messages,” might provide a remedy.

Finally, despite the ongoing controversy over PNR—the requirement of airlines to store information about all their passengers to hand over to law enforcement, including the CJEU advocate general’s opinion last week—King said he wanted to implement existing instruments “to the full.”

“Member states need to build their Passenger Information Units to make the system work. We need to ensure the quality of data going into our systems, that it is processed appropriately and that it is available to the right people when they need it,” he said.

After sitting on the fence for more than three hours, King’s approval by European Parliament is primarily a rubber stamping exercise.

Update September 15: King's nomination was approved by the parliament by 394 votes to 161, with 83 abstentions, in a secret ballot.