Vice-President Andrus Ansip will have sole charge of all digital dossiers on a temporary basis. On Wednesday 21 December, the President of the European Commission decided to temporarily reshuffle the organisation of the College of Commissioners, pending the appointment of the Bulgarian candidate to replace Kristalina Georgieva, who has left to take up a position with the World Bank.
This means that in addition to his current post of Vice-President in charge of the Digital Single Market, Ansip will also be acting as Commissioner for the Digital Economy and the Digital Society. This configuration will continue until the Bulgarian authorities have appointed their new candidate and President Juncker allocates this person a new dossier, on the basis of his or her areas of expertise (see EUROPE 11693).
Basically, this decision is not expected to make too much of a difference to Ansip's daily workload, as the two portfolios overlap (Vice-President Ansip manages a team including, amongst others, Commissioners Oettinger, Jourova, Thyssen, etc.). It could, however, have a bearing on the reforms underway. Ansip is known to be a staunch defender of the free movement of European works and of increased competition in the telecommunications sector, whilst Oettinger is more of a proponent of the principal of territoriality over copyright and company consolidation. (Original version in French by Sophie Petitjean)