The European Union's incoming trade chief, Cecilia Malmstrom, is set to defend against a tough grilling on how she plans to handle free trade talks with the United States as confirmation hearings for nominees of the new European Commission begin on Monday.

Malmstrom, the Trade Commissioner nominee under former Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker's Commission, will be among the first to face an inquiry from the European Parliament.

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The inquiry will address concerns from environmental and consumer groups on the trade agreement's potential risks on the environment, food safety and data privacy.

According to a leaked testimony Reuters cited, Malmstrom intends to exclude a clause that allows foreign investors to file a claim against a country in breach of the trade agreement.

But while this has gained approval among leftists who believe the inclusion of the investor protection clause would grant too much power to foreign firms, a source from the European Commission said the testimony was erroneous and would be amended.

The 28 nominees for the new EU Commission are expected to undergo three-hour hearings in the next nine days after which a decision will be announced after the voting on Oct. 22. If approved, the new team, headed by Portugal's Jose Manuel Barroso, will take office on Nov. 1.

While the group can only be approved or rejected as a whole, Parliament has been known to use its veto power against some candidates in the past.

Some lawmakers have voiced concerns about a few of Juncker's nominees from Britain, France, Hungary and Spain.

Lawmakers have questioned Britain's Jonathan Hill's and France's Pierre Moscovici's nomination as heads of banking and budget discipline, respectively.

Leftists doubt Hill would control excess from London's financial body while German lawmakers cited concerns over Moscovici's ability to penalize his country for defaults on euro deficit limits.

Similarly, Hungary's Tibor Navracsics and Spain's Miguel Arias Canete are expected to face tough questions on how they intend to serve their new Commissioner positions given the pair's conflict with regard to the former's stance on democracy and the latter's family interest in oil.

TagsEU, Cecilia Malmstrom, Politics of Sweden, European Commission