If nothing goes wrong during the “grilling” in the plenary session of the European Parliament, the fifth Czech European Commissioner will be in charge of “international partnership”. When the head of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, announced the composition of her team for the upcoming election period, two types of reactions came, quite as expected.
Politicians from the circle of government parties led by Prime Minister Petr Fiala they spoke about a great success for the Czech Republic and also about the success of the government’s efforts to obtain that holy grail of European politics called a “strong economic portfolio”. Síkela also sought her future post in a comprehensive post described in nice rich colors.
Opposition representatives, on the other hand, began to mock the government for the diplomatic debacle and the gain of the portfolio “to the number”. The profile of opposition leader Andrej Babiš even on the X network he responded with rather endearing sarcasm in the sense that dealing with developing countries is just right for Síkel’s abilities. To which it is appropriate to add to the address of the administrators of Babiš’s profile that of all the tweets that Andrej Babiš did not write himself, he did not write this one himself the most.
Next to the fiery and biting political declarations, the reality is of course boring and complex. Síkela was certainly not given an insignificant portfolio. He could have received, for example, intergenerational justice like the Maltese Glenn Micallef or the inexplicably glued together portfolio of health care and animal welfare, which the current Hungarian Commissioner for Neighborhoods, Olivér Várhelyi, apparently received as a punishment.
On the other hand, Síkel’s final placement in the commission fell short of the government’s boast that we reach for the most important portfolios such as internal trade, budget or energy.
Imagine such a stereotypical party for the upper classes. A Rolls Royce Phantom, for example, stops at the appropriate place, followed by a Bentley Continental. Their owners attract attention and instantly and automatically gain a very solid status within the party. Then an Alfa Romeo 164 arrives. Most of the guests will turn their eyes away from the parking space without interest and will focus on the previous conversation.
The alpha driver gets out and loudly explains to everyone (and he will be right) that his car is extremely interesting, perhaps more interesting than the status polished pieces standing around.
After all, the Alfa Romeo 164 stands on the same chassis platform with four-wheel drive as other interesting limousines of the time, for example the Lancia Thema, which Václav Havel once drove. Also, in the Quadrifoglio version, it has a remarkable three-liter forked six-cylinder with a solid output of around 140 kilowatts. And the author of the body design is the prestigious Pininfarina studio responsible for the most beautiful cars in the world.
At that point, the alpha driver will have the attention of several car enthusiasts who will be willing to listen and agree with him on many points, while the party will probably move to another room in the meantime.
It is similar with Síkel’s future portfolio. Of course, he can try to explain to the snoopers that his portfolio is extremely interesting. Behind him is a large, perhaps even the largest directorate general (meaning an army of officials) of the entire commission. He is in charge of the Global Gateway program, for which a nice 300 billion euros is allocated, which is a real package of money – look, a strong economic portfolio! In terms of the Union’s strategic positions, it is very important to find new markets for European goods and services, as well as to contain China’s global rise and deter it from military action against Taiwan…
Around the words “Global Gateway” Jozef Síkela finds himself getting the attention of several European nerds. They are really seriously thinking about its role in the future geostrategic positioning of the European Union and encouraging growth by expanding into undervalued markets in Asia, Africa and South America.
But the main part of the party, of little value, has long since taken place in a cluster of people around the Polish commissioner Piotr Serafin, who could on the X network just write: “Budget. And everything is clear.’
In other words, if you have to explain at length how interesting and important your portfolio is, then unfortunately it ends up not being that interesting and important. In the mental maps of ordinary European voters, you will definitely not rank among the most influential figures in Europe.
And you can’t sell it in domestic politics either. Opponents will tell you that your influence on matters that will actually affect the lives of Europeans, and thus Czechs, will be practically zero – from the management of financial instruments to the creation of regulatory frameworks. You can, of course, quite rightly argue that the task of the European Commissioner is not to defend the national colors, he is even forbidden to do so. Good luck, maybe this helps.
In the case of the portfolio for Jozef Síkela, it is certainly a promotion compared to the ungrateful department of values and transparency that Věra Jourová has held until now. By the way, even the profit of this portfolio in 2019 was described by the then Prime Minister Andrej Babiš (just like Petr Fiala today) as a “success for the Czech Republic”.
Síkel’s job as European Commissioner will undoubtedly be interesting, demanding, will involve a lot of travel, and at a high level of abstraction, he really has the potential to do a lot in the field of economic diplomacy. If it is well executed, the current Czech Minister of Industry can give it meaningful content. In addition, Síkela is suitable for the position – partly because of his banking experience and partly because he is a politician from a country unencumbered by a colonial past.
On the other hand, it is a portfolio completely unusable for domestic political purposes, with a very uncertain prospect of really tangible results in the foreseeable future. It will be very easy for the opposition to mock him. Which he can do also because Petr Fiala and his government simply failed to fulfill their vociferous ambitions for the highest commissioner positions.
Thus, instead of a solid success, the placement of Jozef Síkela in the new European Commission becomes more of a European burden for Fial’s government. However, Jozef Síkela will certainly enjoy his new position.
