It is time to put an end to the political negotiations on the composition of the European Commission chaired by Ursula von der Leyen and to enter the 2019-2024 legislative period at full speed. The Conference of Presidents of the European Parliament’s Political Groups (CoP) decided on Thursday 21 November to include a vote on the entire College of Twenty-Seven on the agenda for the next session, in order to allow the ‘von der Leyen’ Commission to take office on 1 December.
Today, we decided to hold - “Wednesday 27 November” - a vote on the College of Commissioners and, “if this vote is favourable, it will be the beginning of the real legislative period”, albeit “one month late”, said the President of the European Parliament, David Sassoli, at the end of the CoP meeting.
He considered that Parliament had taken its role very seriously in the process of assessing the qualities and motivations of the 26 Commissioners-designate. He promised that Parliament would pay close attention to the overall “coherence” of the future Commission’s actions, which should help to respond to societal challenges such as migration and climate.
Next Wednesday, the vote will be by a simple majority and will not be secret. According to a Commissioner-designate, “444 votes” were reportedly obtained from the EPP, S&D and Renew Europe (RE) groups, perhaps more if MEPs from the ECR and Greens/EFA groups, as well as elected representatives of Movimento 5 Stelle, approve the Commission.
The GUE/NGL group has already decided that it will vote against. “Von der Leyen hasn’t learnt from Juncker’s failures: the new Commission will neither work for the People nor the planet and will pursue the same neoliberal agenda”, said its co-president, Manon Aubry of France.
On Monday, the environmentalists will debate their final position vis-à-vis the College, with a view to adopting a group position that, at present, reportedly leans toward abstention. “The three major groups decided they didn't need us”, said group co-chair Ska Keller on Tuesday. It will be “neither a red card nor a blank cheque”, the other co-president, Belgian Philippe Lamberts, told EUROPE on Thursday. He criticised thematic errors, referring in particular to the controversy linked to the “European way of life”, and casting errors with regard to Hungarian Olivér Várhelyi at Enlargement and Frenchman Thierry Breton at Internal Market. But, according to him, environmentalists cannot oppose a Commission that will present the European Green Deal. “Bring the goods, we'll judge on the basis of results!”, he said.
However, the vote in Parliament can only take place on Wednesday 27 November if the EU Council confirms the list of 27 Commissioners before that date. Member States’ ambassadors to the EU (Coreper) are expected to do so on Friday 22 November, with a view to adoption without debate on Monday 25, on the sidelines of the ‘Development’ Council. Finland’s EU Council Presidency is working hard to reach the required number of ministers present.
There remains the British imbroglio. For the first time, the Commission will be chaired by a woman and, for the first time, it will take office with a smaller number of Commissioners than the number of Member States.
“The EU Council will make a specific statement” on the entry into office of the ‘von der Leyen' Commission with twenty-seven Commissioners, Mr Sassoli said. “For us, that is enough”, he added, convinced that this situation does not entail any risks as far as the legality of the Commission’s actions are concerned. He referred to a consensus between legal experts from the Commission, the EU Council and Parliament on this issue.
The UK government has until Friday 22 November to respond to the opening of infringement proceedings against it for refusing to appoint a Commissioner candidate until a new government is formed following the parliamentary elections of 12 December (see EUROPE 12369/4).
“It is very important that the vote take place next week so that the Commission can take office in December. [...] This is in the EU’s interest. We respect the decision of our British friends to leave the EU, but we cannot block the EU’s development through legal issues and the Boris Johnson’s tricks”, said the RE President, Romanian Dacian Cioloș.
Parliament’s mark on the composition of the future College
The CoP had a discussion on Thursday with the Commission’s three Executive Vice-Presidents: - the Dutchman Frans Timmermans, in charge of the European Green Deal, on which announcements are expected on 11 December (see EUROPE 12372/5); - the Dane Margrethe Vestager, who will work for a Europe adapted to the digital age; - the Latvian Valdis Dombrovskis, who will coordinate work to put the Economy at the service of people.
MEPs wanted to hear how the three vice-presidents would coordinate their work with each other, with the other Commissioners in the College and with Parliament, a parliamentary source said.
Since the presentation of her team by Mrs von der Leyen in September (see EUROPE 12324/1), the candidacies of three Commissioners-designate - the Hungarian László Trócsányi, the Romanian Rovana Plumb (see EUROPE 12336/2) and the Frenchwoman Sylvie Goulard (see EUROPE 12346/1) - have been rejected. The first two - who are MEPs and have since returned to the European Parliament - were suspected of a conflict of interest by the Committee on Legal Affairs (JURI), a committee that gained real new power during the hearing process in comparison to 2014. Mrs Goulard, who had made it past the JURI Committee, was found unfit after two hearings due to ongoing legal proceedings in France (see EUROPE 12346/1).
During a reshuffle, the Romanian Adina-Ioana Vălean was appointed to Transport (see EUROPE 12369/3), the Hungarian Olivér Várhelyi to Enlargement and Neighbourhood Policy (see EUROPE 12371/16) and the Frenchman Thierry Breton to the Internal Market (see EUROPE 12369/1), and all were approved by the MEPs after their respective hearings.
On the titles of the Commissioners’ portfolios, changes were announced on the eve of Mr Breton’s hearing to encourage support from the Social Democratic group. The former 'Juncker' Commission spokesperson, Margaritis Schinas, will no longer be tasked with ‘protecting’ the European way of life, but with ‘promoting it’ (see EUROPE 12368/4). And the title of Nicolas Schmit’s portfolio will include Social Rights in addition to Employment. To consult the assessment letters from the competent parliamentary committees on the various candidates for Commissioner: http://bit.ly/2QLwRdM.
Some elements are not yet finalised
The outlines of some of the portfolios do not yet seem to be fully finalised. Renew Europe would like to see the Equality portfolio, attributed to Helena Dalli, attached to the vice-presidency of Věra Jourová.
Above all, Parliament and several Member States are in favour of adding Culture to the title of the Innovation and Youth portfolio, attributed to Mariya Gabriel. “For us, culture must be part of it”, said Mr Sassoli.
This issue was discussed on Thursday at the ‘Culture’ Council. The change in the name of Ms Gabriel’s portfolio was supported by about ten Member States. This request, led by Italy and the EPP group in Parliament, was supported by Spain, Poland, Slovenia, Greece, Portugal, Slovakia, Estonia, Malta and Cyprus.
France and Germany were more equivocal: German Minister Monika Grütters expressed full confidence in President-elect Ursula von der Leyen to take up this issue head-on, while France, without opposing it, mainly spoke of symbolism. To which the Polish minister, Paweł Lewandowski, replied: “It’s not just about words or a title: it’s also about funding. For several years, support for culture has been on the decline”. Estonia, for its part, wanted the word ‘Education’ to be included in the title of the portfolio.
Finally, it should be noted that Commissioner Johannes Hahn will ensure “continuity” in the negotiations between the EU and Switzerland. “We are not changing the agreement (with Switzerland), we are not changing the interlocutor”, said Eric Mamer, on Thursday, while indicating that Mrs von der Leyen “will guide the process as a whole”, in consultation with Josep Borrell, as the future High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs. (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion with Sophie Petitjean, Pascal Hansens and Solenn Paulic)