Response: Irini Zarkadoula
With the heavy artillery of the political scene and defying Ursula von der Leyen’s call for a proposal of one man and one woman, European leaders are haggling over the Commission’s portfolios for the next five years.
The old guard of Dombrovskis, Sefcovic and the fierce opponent of the president of the European Commission, the Frenchman Thierry Breton, are also claiming a strong portfolio and the position of executive vice president. In the next five years, it seems that there will only be executive vice-presidents and not vice-presidents, while it is probable that there will not be more than six. Italy is also in the running for the position of executive vice president and responsibilities related to the economy. Giorgia Meloni confirmed the rumors and chose European affairs minister Raffaele Fitto as the candidate for commissioner, stating that the fifty-five-year-old “has a lot of experience and “has been able to manage the responsibilities assigned to him in this government with excellent results”.
No surprises and the choice of Spain. Hard-line environmentalist, ecological transition minister Teresa Ribera is Pedro Sánchez’s chosen one, who is expected to be among the protagonists of the new Commission.
Finance Minister Markus Brunner was chosen by Austria with Chancellor Karl Neuhammer speaking of “an experienced politician with significant competence in financial, economic and competition policy at national and European level”. With former finance minister and woman, Maria Luis Albuquerque, Portugal is “coming down to the arena”.
18 men and 7 women
The “standard” deadline for announcing nominations ended on August 31. But Belgium, which is struggling to form a government, just announced today, Monday, that the candidate will be foreign minister and former journalist Haja Lahbib.
In total at the moment there are 18 men, 7 women (including Ursula von der Leyen and Kaya Callas) at the table, while Bulgaria is the only one to have nominated one man and one woman.
The Maltese candidate, Glenn Micallef, 35, head of Prime Minister Robert Abella’s secretariat, is considered inexperienced and afraid of stumbling over the hurdle of MEPs. Although old, Hungary’s current enlargement commissioner Oliver Varkheli is seen as very likely to fail his European Parliament hearing with MEPs sending a message to Viktor Orbán.
Usually, MEPs reject two candidates and therefore their countries are asked to choose someone else, who also has to go through the same hearing. In 2019, candidates from Romania and Hungary did not even make it to the hearing after being blocked by MEPs for conflict of interest, while for the first time a candidate from France was rejected. the political earthquake caused by the rejection of Sylvie Goulard opened the way for Thierry Breton who, even indirectly, did not hide his deepest desire even for the leadership of the Commission, something that remained a dream. But he surprised by staying on for the new term and being one of Emmanuel Macron’s bargaining chips when Ursula von der Leyen jumped into the fray to claim a second term.
According to Parliament circles, it is possible that more candidates will be rejected this time.
It is estimated that the new Commission may start on December 1st and not November 1st, since the new structure must be ready and the replacements of those who do not pass the hearing have been found.
However, Ursula von der Leyen is already meeting the candidates in Berlemont, the headquarters of the Commission, and it is likely that the announcements of the portfolios will be made by September 11.
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