Brussels, 19/09/2014 (Agence Europe) - A lawyer born in 1964 and former Minister for Regional Development in Prague, Vera Jourova of the Czech Republic was awarded the portfolio of Justice, Consumers and Gender Equality by Jean-Claude Juncker on 10 September. If the European Parliament has no objections, this mission will see her in charge of sensitive dossiers such as the reform of data protection, which the European leaders have promised to conclude by early 2015, the anti-discrimination directive and the fight against sex discrimination in all its forms.
A lawyer by profession, she has worked as a lawyer and as a consultant in the field of European funds. In 2004, in her position as deputy minister for regional development, she led the Czech team in negotiations with the European Commission and the European Investment Bank (EIB) on the structural funds. She has worked as a consultant in the Balkans, the Baltic states and Russia.
She is a member of the Action of Dissatisfied Citizens party (ANO), which is a member of the ALDE family, and has Social Democrat leanings (she started her career with the Social Democrat party in 2003). If all goes well in her hearing before the competent committees of the EP, the Czech Commissioner will be overseen by the first vice-president for improving regulation, inter-institutional relations, the rule of law and the Charter of Fundamental Rights, Dutchman Frans Timmermans. It will be his responsibility to ensure that any proposal made by the Commission respects the principles of subsidiarity and proportionality. The guardian of the rule of law, he will work in “particularly close cooperation with the Commissioner for Justice, Consumers and Gender Equality, because of the existing link between these areas and the rule of law,” explained Juncker. Jourova will also work with the vice-president for growth, jobs, investment and competitiveness, Jyrki Katainen, and the vice-president for the euro and social dialogue, Latvia's Valdis Dombrovskis.
In her work, Jourova will be called upon, like the other Commissioners, to observe certain key principles: the provisions of the Charter of Fundamental Rights and the various national sensitivities in terms of constitutions and cultural traditions, a particularly delicate exercise whenever the Commission acts in the field of justice. A solid system of justice and consumer policy can “build bridges between the national justice systems” and help to dynamise the single market, amongst other things. These sectors of justice and consumers also have economic growth potential, Juncker reiterated in his mission letter to Jourova.
Among the responsibilities assigned to her, Jourova will help Timmermans to smooth the way for the EU's accession to the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms of the Council of Europe, help to move forward the cross-cutting anti-discrimination directive and contribute towards setting in place a true digital single market, by allowing the reform on the data protection rules to be adopted quickly. As regards data, she will be expected to accompany efforts to negotiate the transatlantic data protection agreement, with emphasis laid on granting rights of legal recourse to European citizens not resident in the United States. The revision of the Safe Harbour agreements is another job on her to-do list, although Viviane Reding has already done sterling work on moving this dossier forward. As a contribution to growth and competitiveness, Jourova will evaluate the performances of the national legal systems, an exercise which has already taken place under Reding and which is part of the European Semester. On justice, she must succeed in setting in place the relatively controversial European public prosecutor's office, which will be competent to address European budget fraud, by 2016. Other sensitive subjects: the question of quotas for women on the boards of administration of companies and the directive on maternity leave.
The MEPs will hear her as a candidate on 1 October. They do not really seem to know who Jourova is, which could be an advantage or disadvantage. On the reform of data protection first of all, Germany's Jan-Philipp Albrecht (Greens/EFA) said that he was “neither satisfied nor disappointed” with the appointment. “Instead, we are just curious”, he said. “Ms Jourova does not come from a fundamental rights background and has worked in regional development for most of her career. We will now have to see how quickly she reacts on the important dossiers”, he added. However, having been responsible for European integration in her own country, “at least she will understand the EU. And her lawyer's training will give her a solid grounding in matters of justice, the rule of law and the fundamental rights”, he said. As a lawyer she is also particularly familiar with corruption issues, Albrecht added, as Jourova was accused of the same in 2006. Following a month of imprisonment, she was cleared of all accusations (our translation throughout). (SP with MD)