Organisations representing regional and local authorities from EU countries welcomed overall the announcements made by the newly elected President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, on Tuesday 10 September, particularly with regard to the new Commissioner for Cohesion and Reforms, Elisa Ferreira.
The profile of the new Commissioner is praised. The President of the Conference of Peripheral Maritime Regions (CPMR), Vasco Cordeiro, a Portuguese himself, could only welcome the appointment of a compatriot whose skills and knowledge of territorial issues he praised as a guarantee, in his opinion, of a more relevant, coherent and effective cohesion policy.
The Portuguese Commissioner, in addition to being well acquainted with the intricacies of European affairs, having herself been an MEP in the S&D group from 2004 to 2016, was Minister for Spatial Planning and Regional Development from 1999 to 2002.
A Commission with a strong regional profile
The Council of European Municipalities and Regions (CEMR), for its part, has analysed the "regional" profile of the various Commissioners: of the 27 candidates, nine are former local or regional leaders, a proportion similar to that of the current Commission (where there were 11). These are the Commissioners from Germany (Ursula von der Leyen), Austria (Johannes Hahn), Belgium (Didier Reynders), Croatia (Dubravka Šuica), Spain (Josep Borrell), Finland (Jutta Urpilainen), Ireland (Phil Hogan), Italy (Paolo Gentiloni) and Poland (Janusz Wojciechowski).
The CEMR also notes that almost two thirds of the new Commissioners have held a position of responsibility in the European institutions. "Eight are former Commissioners, one is an official and chief spokesperson of the European Commission and 12 are current or former MEPs, more than double what they were in 2014", the CEMR details in its analysis.
Disappointed cities. Cities, on the other hand, did not hide their disappointment. "The new Commission has missed the opportunity to show clear leadership in urban affairs by not assigning an urban portfolio to a high-level Commissioner", regretted Eurocities Secretary General Anna Lisa Boni.
Link between cohesion and reforms. No organisation commented on the fact that Ms Ferreira's portfolio links Cohesion Policy to Reforms (see EUROPE 12324/1). However, one source told us that the concerns are real, as such a link would set in stone the link between this policy and the 'European Semester' process, against which the regions and the European Parliament have taken a stand (see EUROPE 12193/2). (Original version in French by Pascal Hansens)