The President-elect of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, made several name and content changes to several portfolios allocated to Commissioners-designate on Wednesday 13 November, the day before the hearings of three candidates in the European Parliament (see other news).
The information was first revealed by the S&D group to the European Parliament, which took credit for the following changes: - the portfolio allocated to Margaritis Schinas will be entitled 'Promoting our European Way of Life' (and no longer 'Protecting the European Way of Life') (see EUROPE 12341/1); - Nicolas Schmit will be in charge not only of Jobs, but also Social Rights (see EUROPE 12339/3); - the title of Virginijus Sinkeviçius' portfolio will mention Fisheries in addition to the Environment and Oceans (see EUROPE 12341/4); - Paolo Gentiloni, in charge of economic and financial affairs, will also have the role of coordinating the integration of UN development objectives into the Commission's action, mainly in the current structure of the European Semester budget process.
This announcement was then confirmed by the President-elect's spokesperson. “We have been in contact with the group. We have approved these changes”, said Eric Mamer. On the title of Mr Schinas' portfolio, controversial since the presentation of the ‘von der Leyen’ team, he mentioned the “arguably a little more positive” description.
“We all agree that the European way of life is an achievement we must preserve, but it doesn’t have to be defended, rather promoted. The social pillar is at the core of the European social model and it could not be left out, so now Mr Schmit’s portfolio is complete. In addition, ensuring a just transition to a sustainable economic model is crucial for us, and we want to make sure that new indicators will be added to the European Semester so that not only macro-economic growth is taken into consideration, but also people’s well-being and respect for the environment”, said García Pérez in a statement.
Some believe that these changes are aimed at rallying Social Democrats around the candidacies of the Commissioners-designate who will be heard by Parliament on Thursday, especially France’s Thierry Breton for the Internal Market. With the fall of the Hungarian government, the Social Democrats have one less representative on the future ‘von der Leyen’ team, while the gender parity target is not fully achieved.
The European Trade Union Confederation also welcomed these changes, as the content of the policies should, according to the organisation, adapt to the changes in portfolio headings.
On the other hand, the Greens/EFA group continues to have reservations. “We are not happy with the name change of M. Sinkeviçius' portfolio. We would have preferred to keep it ‘Environment and Oceans’. Oceans need to be protected and are not just a place to extract fish from”, said Germany’s Ska Keller.
The Co-President of the Greens/EFA group would also have preferred that the enlargement portfolio be allocated to another Commissioner-designate than Olivér Várhelyi, “who comes from a Government that is undermining the Rule of law”. Not to mention, according to her, the conflicts of interest arising from Mr Breton's portfolio, which “are not totally resolved”.
On Wednesday, the Commission also recalled its “very consistent” position that the United Kingdom must appoint a Commissioner if the ‘von der Leyen’ team takes office, potentially on 1st December, before Brexit. The institution does not wish to be involved in the election campaign for the British Parliamentary elections on 12 December. (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)