Brussels, 10/09/2014 (Agence Europe) - A more political Commission, reorganised around “project teams” led by seven vice-presidents and asked to focus on essential areas - in other words, growth, jobs, competitiveness and administrative simplification. This is the Commission that its president, Jean-Claude Juncker, presented on Wednesday 10 September after weeks of negotiations.
A Commission that breaks with Barroso's structure and which is intended to be faithful to the commitments of the candidate who campaigned for it (“A Europe present on the big challenges but virtually non-existent on the minor issues”, as Juncker stated on Wednesday), while taking account of specific interests. The appointment of Jonathan Hill from the UK to Financial Stability, Financial Services and Capital Markets Union at a time when the UK is threatening to leave the EU is doubtless one of the clearest illustrations of the compromises it has been necessary to forge.
The main novelty is that Juncker will be assisted by a first vice-president - Frans Timmermans from the Netherlands - who becomes responsible for Better Regulation, for respect of the principle of subsidiarity and proportionality for each legislative initiative, and for respect of the Charter of Fundamental Rights. As such, and supported by arguments, he will be able to block any new initiative that does not seem in line with these principles. Timmermans “will be my right arm” and “will replace me when I am physically or mentally absent”, Juncker stated, anxious not to concentrate everything in his own hands.
Timmermans' appointment alongside Juncker can be considered a response to the feelings expressed by Europeans during the elections on 25 May - a vote marked by defiance to the European project and by a desire for reform. It is exactly this message that Timmermans has been giving for years. As the current foreign affairs minister in the Netherlands, he is the author of a manifesto for reforming the EU. He could therefore be London's ally.
Another change to the structure of Juncker's Commission is that alongside the first vice-president, six other vice-presidents will have the task of leading “project teams” dedicated, for example, to jobs and growth, digital issues and the creation of an Energy Union. These vice-presidents will coordinate the work of the commissioners responsible for specific issues and this is where things become complicated as the division of tasks still seems hazy. The six vice-presidents are Kristalina Georgieva from Bulgaria (Budget and Human Resources), Alenka Bratusek from Slovenia (Energy Union), Jyrki Katainen from Finland (Employment, Growth, Investment and Competitiveness), Valdis Dombrovskis from Latvia (Euro and Social Dialogue), Andrus Ansip from Estonia (Single Digital Market) and Federica Mogherini from Italy (High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, who will now be based in the Berlaymont Building in Brussels.)
True coordination or doubling up? These vice-presidents will have the responsibility for a “certain number of well-defined priority projects”, the Commission explains, and they will be “steering and coordinating the work” conducted by the commissioners concerned. However, it is these commissioners who will be directly in the front line for defending their files. In Economic and Financial Affairs it is indeed Pierre Moscovici from France who has been given the portfolio for economic and financial affairs, along with Taxation and Customs, who will represent the Commission at Eurogroup meetings, and not Valdis Dombrovskis from Latvia - who was nevertheless the coordinator on the Euro. On Wednesday, Juncker tried to make a distinction between the two allocations - Dombrovskis' objective being to reconcile the imperatives of budgetary consolidation with the social dimension. He will ensure that policies are made that are complementary and not contradictory. While Dombrovskis will be in charge of the European semester, Moscovici will prepare the work linked to the economic and budgetary sections of the European semester. However, it is practice that will enable the responsibilities to be distinguished from each other. The same issue can be raised for the Digital Economy, the portfolio for which has been allocated to Günther Oettinger from Germany, but which will also involve Ansip from Estonia, or Energy - which has been given to Miguel Arias Canete from Spain - and will also concern Alenka Bratusek from Slovenia.
Is this neutralising commissioners given powerful portfolios? Is it distributing vice-presidencies that are purely honorary to thank the countries that sent their prime minister to the Commission? Juncker's logic was not totally clear on Wednesday 10 September and the areas flagged up remain contradictory.