Brussels, 22/10/2014 (Agence Europe) - As expected, the team of elected Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker was approved by the European Parliament on Wednesday 22 October (the 699 MEPs voted 423 for, 209 against, with 67 abstentions) and will thus be able to get down to business from 1 November.
The vote, which could scarcely be said to have been laden with suspense, marks the end of a process begun a year ago with the main European political parties agreeing each to select a head of list - the famous 'Spitzenkandidaten' - for the European elections in May of this year. It was also at this time that Jean-Claude Juncker, having been voted out of government in Luxembourg, launched himself, at the request of his peers, into the battle to succeed José Manuel Barroso. One year on, Juncker has seen his Commission approved by a comfortable majority in Parliament, putting him on a relatively sound footing for the next five years.
While the result of the vote was not as convincing as that achieved by Barroso in 2010 (488 votes for, 127 against), it was nevertheless described by the president of the Parliament, Martin Schulz, as “excellent”. According to Schulz, Wednesday 22 October was a “decisive moment”, embedding the 'Spitzenkandidaten' process, which will now be “irreversible”. This point of view was shared by Juncker who said that the Spitzenkandidaten process would come of age in 2019 so that it would be impossible to return to the way things used to be. Juncker was pleased with the vote, opining that comparison with the result achieved by the previous Commission president was not very relevant. “It's impossible to make a comparison”, he said, since the make-up of the European Parliament is radically different to what it was in 2010. From a strictly numerical point of view, there are fewer MEPs than five years ago. And at that time, “the EPP and S&D Groups were also stronger”, Juncker noted after the vote. The recent European elections had swollen the ranks of the Eurosceptics and Europhobes. In any event, it was the same pro-European coalition uniting the members of the EPP, the S&D and ALDE in the main, that supported Juncker in July and it is on this coalition that he will be able to count to get his plans through Parliament. “What's clear is that there is a majority of around 400 votes and that's a figure that will allow us to work over the coming five years”, Juncker stated.
Rallying out of reason or persistent defiance. On Wednesday morning, the MEPs who had said the previous day that they were still uncertain about supporting the Commission finally fell into line with their colleagues' calls of reason, like the Belgian socialists who gave a vote of confidence. As Gianni Pittella from Italy, the leader of the S&D Group, explained, Juncker brought them clarification at the last minute which was enough to win them over. Thus, as had been anticipated for the past fortnight, Juncker confirmed during his investiture speech on Wednesday morning that Citizenship would be given to Commissioner for Migration and Home Affairs Dimitris Avrampoulos. Tibor Navracsics from Hungary therefore loses Citizenship, but recovers Sport. Frans Timmermans from the Netherlands, already heading a vast portfolio, will be tasked with the competence of Sustainable Development. Timmermans, who will be Juncker's real right arm - “and I hope also my left”, Juncker joked - was also given another role on Wednesday morning. It is Timmermans indeed who will have to decide as a last resort on the issue of maintaining the investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) mechanism in the transatlantic trade negotiations (see other article). Juncker also confirmed that medicines would return to the Health portfolio.
However, on an aspect that is particularly important for the social-democrats - the €300 billion level of investment - Juncker announced nothing new to the MEPs, simply talking about his timetable and telling them that without a mandate, he could not share his ideas with the other actors concerned. His intention is to present the investments package before Christmas, but he did not want to give any further detail on Wednesday morning about the possible sources of financing of this plan. He simply recalled that the private sector should make a significant contribution.
While his investiture speech did not contain any great announcements, or initial concrete proposals to present as soon as the Commission enters into office, Juncker nevertheless remained faithful to his political lines from July, which consisted primarily of working to improve the way the EU functions, of legislating when necessary and of focusing on the essential challenges such as unemployment and growth. His rather pragmatic speech was not able, however, rally the most refractory.
Twelve social-democrats thus voted against the Juncker Commission - notably two French socialists - and several of them abstained. This is the case of the Spanish delegation. Within the EPP Group, two MEPs voted against the Juncker Commission, including Rachida Dati, because they believed his work programme to be too flexible on illegal immigration and the Schengen area. The Greens/EFA Group at the European Parliament voted against the Commission's investiture as announced, with two abstentions and two votes in favour. The GUE/NGL Group, which as their leader Gabi Zimmer had said were disappointed by the EPP-S&D agreements inter alia, voted against. The ECR Group was much more divided, however, like its leader Syed Kamall from the UK. In a rather ambiguous speech, Kamall said he was pleased with Juncker's Better Regulation objectives but was disappointed with the casting - especially of Pierre Moscovici from France. The ECR was thus divided between those - around a dozen - who supported the Commission and 20 MEPs who voted against. As to the ALDE Group, it decided to join the “pro-European coalition”, as ALDE leader Guy Verhofstadt stated, and to cast aside its reservations about the Hungarian commissioner. Nevertheless, six liberal MEPs opted to abstain.
Moving on to action. “From Ukraine to Syria, to the Middle East and North Africa, our neighbourhood remains shaky and unstable. Scores of immigrants arriving at Europe's external frontiers in search of a better future remind us of the need to reconcile the quest of solidarity with the demand for safe borders. And cross-border health threats like the Ebola epidemic have seized citizens with an understandable degree of fear. We cannot and will not sweep these mounting problems under the carpet. We cannot and will not turn a blind eye. That is why I insist that the time for European action is now. That is why I state loud and clear in front of this House that Europe's problems cannot be put on the back burner”, Juncker stated. He also wants to “break out of silo mentalities”. The Commission will thus be a real team. “My Commission will not only look different but will also work differently (…). Not through silo mentalities, clusters and portfolio frontiers, but as a collegiate, political body. I want a political, executive Commission at the service of the common good and of Europe's citizens”, he stated. (SP)