In Brussels, ’tis the season to dig up the dirt: the European Parliament is preparing to show its teeth as the bloc’s only directly elected institution in the upcoming hearings of the next College of European Commissioners. Each of the 26 nominees will go through a grilling before MEPs that can cover a myriad of topics, from divisive positions on sensitive policy fields that raise questions about compatibility and loyalty to embarrassing comments made in the past that many would like to sweep under the rug. Last time in 2019, Romania, Hungary and France were forced to put forward replacements …