Europe begins the political year with the immediate challenge of forging the team of commissioners

Back to school for the European institutions too. The Union is entering a political period that will kick off its tenth legislative term, marked by the results of the European elections on 9 June, in which the European People’s Party bloc won and which gave way to far-right MPs in one in four seats in the European Parliament.

Once the seats were distributed, the minutes were handed over and the groups in Parliament were formalized (eight this time, one more due to the split of the radical right), the decisions were made top jobsthe top EU officials. Since July, it has been known that the German conservative Ursula von del Leyen will be reappointed for another five years as President of the European Commission (EC), a post for which she was ratified in July by the hemicycle, with 401 votes out of 707 cast. At that time, it was also agreed that the Portuguese socialist Antonio Costa would be the President of the European Council and that the Estonian Kaja Kallas would become the head of the Foreign Policy of the Twenty-Seven.

Now there are the rest, 26 seats on Von der Leyen’s team, commissioners from each of the member states who will each dedicate themselves to their subject and who have the challenge of forming a team. Each one with their national interests, with their ideologies and their political tactics, with their geographic or economic block favouritism, which they must put aside for the good of all Europeans, 448.4 million people.

Member States have had until Friday to submit their candidates. And they have not made it easy for Von der Leyen. Beyond profiles and knowledge, a first problem has arisen: this Commission, as it has been proposed, would not be equal. There is a mandate from Parliament that asks countries to make equal proposals, but they have not been heard.

It was a request that was also made to Germany, she wanted quality and equality, but 19 men and eight women have presented themselves, taking into account that Bulgaria has been the only member that has sent a double proposal, a man and a woman, to balance. This is what was requested: two names or, at least, more female candidates. In the case of Spain, a woman has been chosen, the current third vice-president and minister for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge, Teresa Ribera. The EC has 13 women and 14 men in its current configuration.

The new college of commissioners and their corresponding portfolios, with their names and powers, will be presented to the leaders of the political groups in the European Parliament on 11 September, so time is running out to make changes. In Brussels, the debate is open. Will Von der Leyen reject any name? She has not done so for now, when she is already personally meeting those proposed by the countries, trying to smooth out the problems that may arise in view of this vote by the MEPs and seeking harmony in a necessarily heterogeneous cabinet, with diverse sensitivities and priorities.

Media such as Euractive y POLITICO They say that the EC president is going to go ahead with everything. She hopes that the rejection, if it comes, will come from Strasbourg and that the country that has supported each candidate, despite the request for equality, will be held responsible for it. This already happened in 2019, in the last election of commissioners, when those proposed by France, Romania and Hungary backed out. It is true that then the problem was not about equal lists, but about the knowledge and personal reports of the candidates.

That does not mean that the lack of women on the list will not cause headaches for Von der Leyen. The most progressive groups of those who supported her nomination, the Socialists and Democrats and the Greens, are expected to make a fuss in the Chamber about this list, which takes us back to times past and is disappointing because of the lack of commitment of the countries to parity.

And more than just noise: in this legislature, the president of the EC does not have the solidity of support she had five years ago, because the centre-left groups that supported her (social democrats and liberals) have thinned out and she is forced to close majorities with more groups, or at least some of those groups. This explains her rapprochement with the ecologists and her flirtation with part of the European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) Group, led by Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, who try to pass themselves off as good ultras. Her 24 seats in the Brothers of Italy are among the most coveted.

Another reason for Von der Leyen not asking for new names, both digitals say, is that she wants to refrain from asking capitals to submit additional female names, “as this could risk some of them being burned at the political level”, when no one yet knows how the vote will turn out.

Has a tetris The EPP representative will have an interesting task ahead: While her task will be to adapt the portfolios to the ambitions of national governments, she will also have to try to satisfy the political families, even though her group is the one that currently has the most governments under its control. The EPP-appointed commissioners will dominate the new EU executive.

For the new EU executive team to be sworn in, the European Parliament must give its approval, for which MEPs closely scrutinize the appointed commissioners’ knowledge of the policy area for which they will be responsible. In theory, they are supposed to be colour-blind and without background, unlike the executives that appoint them. The wishes of the EU’s largest member states and their supporters are usually taken into account, but the allocation of portfolios is ultimately at von der Leyen’s discretion.

She is already preparing the portfolios of each of the commissioners and also evaluating which of them will also have the role of executive vice-presidents, which multiplies their power and influence. It is very possible that Ribera will keep one of them, given the importance of the green transition in the policies to come in this period. In five years, says Von der Leyen, the future of Europe must be designed for 50 more and the possible portfolio of the Spaniard will be central to that design. These vice-presidencies also serve to please those who have been a little angry along the way, for not keeping the top positions. In everyone’s mind, Italy, which did not endorse the top jobs just for that and expect a candy now.

For now, it is known that there will be 12 new names out of 26, nine with community experience, seven working in the environmental, energy or agricultural fields and five specialised in foreign policy and defence. Von der Leyen announced that this time new portfolios will be created, for Defence, Housing and for the Mediterranean, due to the need to address these areas. It may end up being influenced in its design by the report that the former Italian Prime Minister, Mario Draghi, must present to the European Parliament on 5 September, who had been commissioned to draw up an x-ray of the competitiveness of the EU, with proposals for action. “It is expected that it will influence the structure of the future economic portfolios of the EU executive,” she says. Euractive.

Euractiv also understands that former Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi will take part in the European Parliament’s conference of presidents on 5 September, where he is expected to present his long-awaited report on competitiveness, which is expected to influence the structure of future economic portfolios of the EU executive.

Community sources also point out that, unlike her predecessors, the German is very personalistic, very presidential, she has a plan for the legislature in her head and needs those who are with her to adapt to it, with a significant common minimum. The challenges are great: from competitiveness to defence and aid to Ukraine, passing through the Green Pact, digitalisation, enlargement to the east, immigration, housing, the rise of radicalism and populism and the juggling to achieve a majority in the European Parliament.

The process and deadlines

The shortlist of 26 commissioner candidates is unlikely to be a clean slate, with all of its candidates surviving Parliament’s sieve. If so, the new EU executive could take office soon, with the swearing-in date set for 1 November. However, if at least one candidate is rejected, the date would be pushed back to 1 December and, in the worst case, if further doubts arise over the proposed names, the new Commission would have to wait until 1 January.

In the most recent selection processes, the European Parliament has usually rejected two or three candidates. pre-commissioners during the hearing process. It would be up to the states to send new names and start the process again with them. This time, Von der Leyen is no longer so innocent and the rejections may also affect her a bit, beyond the clear responsibility of each member to send people who deserve the position.

The parliamentary hearings are expected to begin in the third week of September and have three phases: examining the declarations of interest of the nominees for each commissioner, submitting written questions and holding a joint hearing of the committees responsible for the respective portfolios.

First, the European Parliament’s Legal Affairs Committee will examine the personal declarations of the nominees and review their finances, looking for signs of conflicts of interest. In 2019, this is where the candidates from Hungary and Romania fell short.

While all this documentation is being analysed, each commission (committee, in the Community name) corresponding to the portfolios of the new nominees will prepare a series of written questions. The answers will pave the way for more questions, the juiciest ones, those that the MEPs will ask when they appear before the corresponding committee. It is time to speak, to defend themselves without hiding behind prepared answers. Without tricks or pretense, enduring questions for three hours in an interrogation from which it is necessary to determine whether or not they are worthy of the post. Their experience, their knowledge, their European zeal will be valued. In cases where political competences overlap, several committees will participate. These are dense meetings, but a true spectacle of good European politics.

Furthermore, it is the time to see the blocks come into action, when the work of the parliamentary groups exceeds that of the national deputies, in order to be able to make clear the bets of the legislature, the interests and the red lines of each one.

Once the ordeal has passed, the deputies meet again to decide whether to confirm or reject the proposed candidate. If he is not valid, more names are asked for, to begin with. If not, he is confirmed, until the final vote of the entire team. The new EU executive will be put to a plenary vote according to the schedule already set out. This is the process in which the power of the hemicycle, usually overwhelmed by the current events of the Council and the Commission, is best demonstrated.

As was the case with von der Leyen’s election, the approval of half of all MEPs, i.e. 361, will be required before work can begin. That is in the Commission, because the Parliament is already starting the new political year on 2 September. Committees will be in session: the budgetary priorities for 2025 and the situation of the EU in the face of monkeypox will be analysed, how to protect children from sexual abuse, new anti-fraud measures, the situation of Europol and the Asylum Agency, changes to truck driving licences in the Union and how to improve the safety of toys. Life, which always passes through Europe.