The President-elect of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, announced on Monday 9 September the identity of the 26 Commissioners-designate who will form the next College of European Commissioners with her from 1 November, if they overcome the obstacle of European Parliament hearings.
This list contains few surprises compared to the one that EUROPE had drawn up at the end of August (see EUROPE 12313/12). Since then, the French Sylvie Goulard, the Portuguese Élisa Ferreira, the Romanian Rovana Plumb, as well as the Italian Paolo Gentiloni have been officially designated.
Mrs von der Leyen therefore seems to have accepted all the persons submitted to her by the capitals. The German Christian Democrat has always chosen a woman when a Member State, such as Portugal or Romania, has given her a choice between several persons.
With thirteen women, including the President herself, the Commission 'von der Leyen' should almost achieve parity between men and women, something new for the European institution.
In terms of political balance, ten political figures are affiliated to the social democratic political family: the Finnish Jutta Urpilainen, the Italian Paolo Gentiloni, the Luxembourger Nicolas Schmit, the Maltese Helena Dalli, the Dutch Frans Timmermans, the Portuguese Elisa Ferreira, the Romanian Rovana Plumb, the Slovak Maroš Šefčovič, the Spanish Josep Borrell and the Swedish Ylva Johansson.
Nine others - Ursula von der Leyen, Austrian Johannes Hahn, Bulgarian Mariya Gabriel, Cypriot Stella Kyriakides, Croatian Dubravka Šuica, Greek Margaritis Schinas, Irish Phil Hogan, Latvian Valdis Dombrovskis and Hungarian László Trócsányi - are from the Christian-Democrat ranks.
The other Commissioners-designate are either liberal - Belgian Didier Reynders, French Sylvie Goulard, Danish Margrethe Vestager, Estonian Kadri Simpson and Czech Věra Jourová - or conservative - Pole Janusz Wojciechowski - or independent, such as Lithuanian Virginijus Sinkievičius and Slovenian Janez Lenarčič.
László Trócsányi, ideal target of the European Parliament
Mr Trócsányi comes from the Fidesz Party - in power in Hungary, but temporarily suspended by the European People's Party (EPP). A former minister of justice in the government of Viktor Orbán, he passed several laws related to the reform of the judicial system and the criminalisation of migration aid, which are at the origin of the so-called ‘Article 7’ procedure on respect for the Rule of law against Hungary and on the agenda of the EU General Affairs Council on Monday 16 September (see EUROPE 12320/2).
Several MEPs have already pointed out their opposition to Mr Trócsányi's appointment, including Sophie in't Veld (Renew Europe, Netherlands) who described it as a "provocation". The European Parliament’s pro-European political groups refuse to allow MEPs from ruling parties at national level who support a government subject to an ‘Article 7’ procedure to take up positions of responsibility in parliamentary committees.
Other Commissioners-designate are in conflict with the law on matters at European level. Asked on Monday about the opening by the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) of an investigation into the alleged fictitious use of a parliamentary assistant by Mrs Goulard, the European Commission called for respect for OLAF's independence and for the "principle of the presumption of innocence" enjoyed by the former MEP. In this ongoing case (see EUROPE 12315/1), Mrs Goulard reportedly reimbursed the European Parliament 45,000 euros. This sum would correspond to the undue income received by this parliamentary assistant, according to the French press.
The Commission has requested the same respect for the principle of presumption of innocence with regard to Mr Wojciechowski, who was also the subject of an OLAF investigation into excessive travel expenses when he was an MEP between 2004 and 2014.
Mrs von der Leyen herself was not totally spared from scrutiny when she was Minister of Defence (see EUROPE 12288/5).
The United Kingdom has not proposed a Commissioner, the Johnson government working on the basis of an exit from the European Union on 31 October. However, if Brexit does not take place by that date, at least a transitional solution will have to be found insofar as the Treaty provides that each Member State shall have a European Commissioner.
On Tuesday, Mrs von der Leyen will formalise the outlines of the portfolios that will be allocated to each of her political figures and on the basis of which the parliamentary committees will question them at the end of September or beginning of October.
The eight Commissioners-designate who already hold seats on the Juncker Commission aspire to obtain larger portfolios or the position of Vice-President, if they do not already hold it. Mr. Hahn is even one of the few candidates to run for a third term.
On the allocation and contour of portfolios, the last arbitrations were underway on Monday. These included the Economic and Fiscal Affairs and Competition portfolios. Italy is claiming one of the two portfolios despite opposition from some Member States in view of ongoing tensions between the European level and Rome over the Italian budgetary situation.
It will also be necessary to observe to what extent Mrs von der Leyen will integrate the concept of hierarchy within the College through the appointment of vice-presidents and whether she will develop it. One thing is certain, Mrs Vestager and Mr Timmermans will play a leading role in leading transversal societal issues with high media visibility, such as, for example, the fight against climate change or the development of digital technologies. (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)