Romania’s designated EU commissioner Leonard Orban starts preparations in Brussels today for incoming hearings in the European Parliament after he received the approval of EC President Jose Manuel Barroso to take the seat of Commissioner for Multilingualism last week.

Preparations for the key EP hearings include meatings with important Commission and Parliament officials in Brussels, Mark Gray, a spokesperson for the EC, told Romanian news agency NewsIn.

If the EP gives him green light, Leonard Orban would take over a job that administers some 1.2 billion euro, with some 3,400 people in subordination - that is, some 15% of employees in European institutions from three major language-related departments.