Jessika Roswall was confirmed as the new Commissioner for the Environment, on Wednesday 6 November, the day after her hearing (see EUROPE 13518/4), following two Coordinators’ meetings of the European Parliament’s political groups, who were unable to reach a decision.
“It is with great sorrow that Ms Roswall was confirmed (...) It was far from a foregone conclusion: too many generalities, a lack of technical knowledge and dozens of unanswered questions. It was anything but assuring”, said Greens/EFA coordinator German Jutta Paulus. A far cry from the “broad support of the European Parliament’s Committee on Environment” that Jessika Roswall claimed on social network X after being confirmed.
Coordinator for The Left, Jonas Sjöstedt from Sweden was even more blunt, calling on the Swedish government to “withdraw Roswall’s candidacy and propose someone else”. The MEP described his compatriot’s hearing as “disappointing” and said that the EU “ needs a Commissioner who fights for the environment and the climate, who understands environmental issues and EU policy in this area”.
Following Jessika Roswall’s performance on Tuesday 5 November, MEPs considered asking her to provide written answers to additional questions. The Greens/EFA wanted this, but did not obtain a majority, Swedish MEP Pär Holmgren revealed on X. According to him, Jessika Roswall benefited from power plays between the EPP and the S&D, with the former threatening to “dismiss the Belgian Commissioner” Hadja Lahbib if the Swede, who is affiliated to the EPP, was not supported.
“Jessika Roswall has made clear commitments to pursue the European Green Deal and implement the texts adopted”, said Christophe Clergeau (S&D, French).
Clarifications will be sought from the Commissioner-designate for Prosperity and Industrial Strategy, Stéphane Séjourné, and the Commissioner-designate for Clean, Just and Competitive Transition, Teresa Ribera. They will be interviewed on Tuesday 12 November.
Pär Holmgren is already planning to invite the new Commissioner for Environment “to bilateral talks to discuss future cooperation in greater detail”, and hopes to obtain “clearer answers”. In the meantime, Jutta Paulus suggested that the new Commissioner should “do her homework”. (Original version in French by Florent Servia)