Oettinger faces more questions from MEPs

Germany’s Gunter Oettinger faced a grilling from MEPs earlier as he tries to convince them he is suitable for the post of budget and human resources commissioner

But the centre right politician is still dogged by criticism over derogatory remarks he made about Chinese people and gay marriage

“As far as the speech and the parts of my Hamburg speech at the end of October are concerned, I would like to repeat: It was and is not my intention to offend anyone with comments, and I expressly regret these expressions from then on,” he told the European Parliament.

Gaffe prone Oettinger is no stranger to courting controversy.

In 2013 he branded Italy, Bulgaria and Romania as “essentially ungovernable.”

And at a political event om 2000, he sang the first verse of his country’s national anthem, which is banned due to its Nazi connotations.