EPAFrans Timmermans in Brussels
NOS News•today, 18:12•Edited today, 18:24
Kysia Hekster
European Union correspondent
Kysia Hekster
European Union correspondent
After almost ten years of European politics, the Brussels career of Frans Timmermans has come to a (provisional) end. Now that he has been chosen as the leader of the PvdA/GroenLinks combination, he will step down as European Commissioner. He has submitted his resignation to President Ursula von der Leyen of the European Commission.
Over the past four years, Timmermans’ working life has been entirely devoted to nature and climate. He was responsible for the Green Deal, the ambitious plan of the European Union to be climate neutral by 2050. He guided many thousands of pages of legislation through the Brussels institutions.
Website Politico describes Timmermans as ‘the pilot’ of the EU on its way to climate neutrality and writes that the European Commission will lose “the loudest voice in the room that encourages ambitious action” with his departure.
Praise from friend and foe
Friend and foe praise that ambition and his progress on the files. “Frans really likes climate diplomacy,” says Esther de Lange, leader of the Dutch Christian Democrats in Brussels. As a climate negotiator, she regularly clashed with Timmermans on behalf of the largest party in the European Parliament, but she also praises his efforts.
According to De Lange, the outgoing European Commissioner also owes a lot to President von der Leyen, who, like herself, is a Christian Democrat. “She already established the frameworks of the Green Deal before he became European Commissioner. I absolutely do not want to put his work into perspective, because he simply did it very well, but this really had to happen.” It is an open secret that relations between Timmermans and von der Leyen are cool at best.
Hole in the European Commission
Much of the nature and climate legislation has been completed, but there are still a number of sensitive points in the European Parliament, including the controversial nature restoration law. That bill on restoring the poor state of nature made it through in the nick of time, but negotiations between the European Commission, the 27 EU countries and the European Parliament still have to take place. A lot is at stake for the Netherlands, says De Lange. “It is therefore important that Frans Timmermans’ climate portfolio remains in Dutch hands.”
But it is not certain that the new Dutch European Commissioner will take over that portfolio from Timmermans, nor his position of first vice-president. Von der Leyen can choose to rearrange the functions and contents of the portfolios or temporarily not fill them in at all.
Collegiate style
In response to Timmermans’ departure, Von der Leyen says that Euro Commissioner Maros Sefcovic will in any case take over responsibility for the Green Deal. Timmermans’ climate portfolio will temporarily be in his hands.
Furthermore, von der Leyen underlines that, thanks to Timmermans’ “excellent contribution and strong personal involvement”, Europe has made significant progress towards the goal of making the EU the first climate-neutral continent. Von der Leyen: “He has helped shape many of the Commission’s initiatives, in a true collegiate style.”
The departure of Timmermans leaves a gap in the European Commission. It has 27 members, one for each EU country. Timmermans’ successor therefore comes from the Netherlands and it is up to the outgoing cabinet to nominate someone to Von der Leyen. No decision has yet been taken on this, Prime Minister Rutte said at the cabinet’s annual away day.
Hurry up
Whoever it is, it’s only for about a year. There will be European elections next June, and a new European Commission will take office at the end of 2024.
The caretaker government cannot afford to wait too long. The next climate conference will be in Dubai in December. In recent years, Timmermans has negotiated on behalf of the European Union at those summits. Jaime de Bourbon de Parme, climate envoy of the Netherlands, saw him operate there. “Timmermans’ successor has an influential position to take over,” he says.
The Bourbon de Parme calls the climate summits “the Olympic Games for climate diplomacy”, in which climate knowledge, credibility and a good network are important. Timmermans played an active political role in the negotiations and set the tone alongside US climate envoy John Kerry and his Chinese counterpart Xie Zhenhua. Timmermans was also a driving force for ambitious developing countries, such as better cooperation with African countries.”
Timmermans will therefore be missed in Dubai, but if he succeeds in his goal of becoming Prime Minister of the Netherlands, he will not have to miss Brussels for a long time and as head of government he can join the summits to discuss major European issues.
2023-08-22 16:12:03
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