The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, proposed, on Tuesday 8 September, the appointment of Mairead McGuinness as European Commissioner in charge of Financial Services. As part of a reshuffle within the College, Valdis Dombrovskis would remain Executive Vice-President for an Economy that Works for People, a portfolio that would include Trade.
“I have decided to propose to the EU Council and the EU Parliament the appointment of Ms McGuinness to the post of Commissioner in charge of Financial Services, Financial Stability and Capital Markets Union ”, said Commissioner von der Leyen in a two-minute press statement.
The President of the Commission welcomed the “European commitment” and “experience” of the two Irish candidates for the post of Commissioner, namely the current First Vice-President of the European Parliament, Mairead McGuinness, and the former Vice-President of the EIB, Andrew McDowell.
If Ms McGuinness passes through the appointment procedure without a hitch, the Commission will consist of fourteen men and thirteen women, including Mrs von der Leyen. The parity objective would thus be achieved for the first time ever.
In her capacity as Commissioner for Financial Services, Ms McGuinness would represent the Commission at the Ecofin Council. The Director General of the Financial Stability Department (DG FISMA), John Berrigan from Ireland, would not be required to resign, despite the practice that a Commissioner and a Director General should not have the same nationality.
This practice applies when choosing a Director General over an incumbent Commissioner, observed Commission spokesman Eric Mamer.
The President of the S&D group in the European Parliament, Iratxe García Pérez from Spain, called the choice of Ms McGuinness via Twitter “good news”. “However, Ireland is not a fair tax player, and holding both FISMA and Eurogroup is not what the EU needs for a just and social answer to the crisis”, she said, referring to the election in early July of Irish Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe as head of the Eurogroup (see EUROPE 12524/1).
In Trade, Mr Dombrovskis will continue to be a member of the Eurogroup
Mrs von der Leyen also proposed that Vice-President Valdis Dombrovskis should assume “responsibility for the Trade portfolio” while remaining the Commission’s representative “in the Eurogroup, alongside Paolo Gentiloni”.
In this way, the Foreign Trade portfolio remains in the Christian Democratic family after Phil Hogan’s resignation.
“The portfolio is changing, not increasing”, Mr Mamer said. And, he added, “in terms of political reasoning, it is useful to have a non-Irish member in the Eurogroup, given that the president of the Eurogroup is Irish”. Mr Dombrovskis will remain in charge of the implementation of the ‘European Semester’ budgetary process, whose role is increasing with the European Recovery Plan.
Asked at the Brussels Economic Forum 2020 about his new policy priorities, Mr Dombrovskis reiterated the traditional European doctrine: trade must be based on “multilateral rules” in these “turbulent” times. He recalled that the Commission had proposed a reform of the World Trade Organization, in particular to resolve the paralysis of its Appellate Body.
On the United States, Dombrovskis spoke of negotiating “mini deals”. On China, he said that, in the negotiations on a bilateral investment agreement, “substance (was) before deadlines”. We need to be “ambitious” to rebalance a situation that is not currently not, he said.
The Chair for the European Parliament Committee on Trade, Bernd Lange (S&D, Germany), welcomed the speedy decision by Mrs von der Leyen, but described the portfolio allocated to Mr Dombrovskis as “unusual”.
It is now up to the competent parliamentary committees of the European Parliament to hear Ms McGuinness and, once again, Mr Dombrovskis. The dates will be fixed as soon as the Commission has forwarded the mission letters of the two candidates to the European Parliament in order to determine which committees will be relevant. According to a parliamentary source, the hearings could take place during the week beginning Monday 21 September. Before doing so, the Committee on Legal Affairs will have to examine the declaration of the two candidates listing their financial interests. (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)