Rumours are rife in the European quarter of Brussels about the future “government” of the EU. Because time is running out if the President of the European Commission, the European executive, wants to have her operational team before the end of the year.
A real institutional puzzle where Ursula von der Leyen must succeed in obtaining the agreement of the majority political forces in the European Parliament while satisfying the egos of the Member States who want the most prestigious positions. However, officially, a European Commissioner must represent the general interest of the EU and forget his national origin or political camp.
Future Commissioners on the grill of MEPs
If this European team is presented by Friday, the future 26 Commissioners will be able to be interviewed from the week of 14 October by the MEPs responsible for each portfolio of the nominees. A democratic exercise that is not a formality. Several aspiring Commissioners have already fallen in the past.
After the validation of the European Parliament, the commissioners will then be able to take office either on 1 November or, more likely, on 1 December. The position of head of European diplomacy is already known and validated by the heads of state and government: it is the former Prime Minister of Estonia, Kaja Kallas, with her anti-Putin speech.
The first information on the rest of the future composition of the European Commission is starting to appear in the press. The German newspaper Die Welt announces that there would be four commissioners who would obtain the status of “executive vice-president” and two others who would be under the direct authority of Ursula von der Leyen.
Giorgia Meloni’s candidate for vice-president?
And it risks coughing in the European Parliament. If this is confirmed in the coming days, the Italian Raffaele Fitto would have his hand in the portfolio of the Economy and the post-Covid recovery plan, while obtaining the status of executive vice-president. A great victory for the far-right Italian head of government, Giorgia Meloni, of whom Raffaele Fitto is close. A mini-surprise since Von der Leyen had not been able to count on Meloni’s vote when she was appointed to the European Council and then on that of her troops in the European Parliament when she was elected on 18 July 2024.
One of the other vice-presidencies would go to the austerity advocate within the Commission, the former Latvian Prime Minister Valdis Dombrovskis. He, a European Commissioner since 2014, would be in charge of aid for “the reconstruction of Ukraine”. The socialist Teresa Ribera Rodriguez, former Minister for Ecology in the Spanish government of Pedro Sanchez, would remain in her preferred field with the “transition”. For the climate therefore, but also social and digital according to Die Welt.
The Dutch centre-right Wopke Hoekstra would get trade and energy would go to the very pro-nuclear Czech Josef Sikela. Thierry Breton would be in charge of industry and “strategic autonomy”. The latter term could include defence issues, an area where the European Union has only as much competence as the member states are willing to leave it.
This article is originally published on ouest-france.fr
