Brussels, 03/10/2014 (Agence Europe) - The task incumbent upon Liberal Alenka Bratusek (Slovenia) is to be a heavy one in the future Juncker Commission, if she is confirmed by the European Parliament. The post of commissioner and vice-president for energy union for which she has been nominated will involve steering and coordinating the work of the future commissioners holding the portfolios of climate action and energy; transport, internal market, industry, entrepreneurship and SMEs; research, science and innovation; agriculture and rural development; environment, maritime affairs and fisheries; and regional policy. Bratusek, who is the former prime minister of Slovenia - a partner country in the South Stream gas pipeline project led by Gazprom - is thus to be given a very symbolic post at a time of high tension with Russia. She will have to launch work on energy union in the footsteps of Günther Oettinger (Germany) - who has managed the energy portfolio for the last five years with more than mixed results.
From Ljubljana to Brussels, 44 year-old Bratusek has had a dizzying ascent. Having graduated in science and technology from Ljubljana University in 1994, Bratusek, who also holds a Master's degree in business administration, started out as a civil servant (1995-2008) in several Slovenian ministries- Economic Affairs, Finance and then Budget (where she joined the team preparing for the Slovenian Presidency of the Council of the EU in 2008). She was involved in centre-left politics in local elections in 2006 and in parliamentary elections in 2008. In 2011, she joined the Socialist party and was elected to the Slovenian Parliament. Then, in January 2013, she became leader of the Positive Slovenia party and two months later became Prime Minister of Slovenia, heading a centre-left alliance and thus becoming the first woman to lead the Slovenian government. She then conducted a policy of drastic austerity in order to stabilise public finance, and organised the recapitalisation of a sick Slovenian banking sector, without the need for international financial aid. It was a performance which nevertheless proved very unpopular in the eyes of the Slovenian public, and which resulted in the downfall of the Bratusek-led coalition in spring 2014 and in early parliamentary elections. Abandoned by Positive Slovenia, Bratusek then founded her own party but suffered a heavy electoral defeat. Before the end of her term of office in July 2013, and desirous of making a come-back, in Brussels, Bratusek put herself on the list of three candidates for the post of Slovenian commissioner which she sent to future European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker. This was a move that roused anger in her allies and in the leader of the new coalition in power, Miro Cerar.
If she is confirmed as vice-president of the European Commission, Bratusek will be up against a mountain. As Juncker's mission letter sent to her states, in her role as commissioner, she will have to bring about a “resilient” energy union, with a forward-looking climate change policy, “by steering and co-ordinating the delivery of key initiatives”. “We need to pool our resources, combine infrastructures and unite our negotiating power vis-à-vis third countries. We need to diversify our energy sources, and reduce the high energy dependency of several of our member states”, says the mission letter. “If the price of energy from the East becomes too expensive, either in commercial or political terms, Europe should be able to switch swiftly to other supply channels”, Juncker states. Bratusek's big challenge will be to steer the full integration of the internal energy market - a political objective that the Council has theoretically set for the end of 2014. She will also have to coordinate specific action to strengthen energy security on a European scale - with the task of avoiding possible energy shortages in the first three to twelve months of her mandate. This is a sizeable challenge given the Ukrainian crisis and the current tension with Russia. “Europe's energy dependency should also be reduced by diversifying sources and routes of energy imports and pooling our negotiating power”, states the mission letter.
As vice-president, Bratusek will also have to focus on coordinating the Commission's efforts to ensure the EU achieves its targets in the field of energy for 2020 and 2030. “We need to strengthen the share of renewable energies on our continent. This is not only a matter of responsible climate policy. It is, at the same time, an industrial policy imperative if we still want to have affordable energy at our disposal in the medium term”, Juncker tells Bratusek in his mission letter to her, adding that he wants the EU to become the world number one in renewable energies.
During the first three months of her mandate, Bratusek will also have to support Vice-President Jyrki Katainen (jobs and growth) in preparing the growth and investment package that Juncker has pledged. The package should help to mobilise additional public and private investment in infrastructure such as energy networks, as well as in renewable energy and energy efficiency. (EH)