Team for a second term: Von der Leyen and One Square

The new right-wing defence minister misses out on gender equality, and the team appointed by EU Commission President von der Leyen for a second term is causing some surprises.

When filling 27 of Europe’s top jobs, Ursula von der Leyen had to take into account candidates’ national interests, party affiliations and gender. It’s like squaring a circle.

Nevertheless, the commission chairwoman has largely mastered it. The focus of her future team’s work has shifted significantly. In her current mission, von der Leyen initially made fighting climate change her top priority. That was until the coronavirus pandemic and Russia’s war on aggression in Ukraine presented new and bigger challenges.

Von der Leyen said that when establishing the university of the future, he had more in mind European security and the competitiveness of European industry than in 2019.

The controversial Italian representative

To carry out this task, von der Leyen appoints six vice-presidents: Teresa Ribera, a Spanish social democrat, is in charge of sustainable change and competition policy, while Stéphane Sejourné, a French liberal, is in charge of industrial policy. Kaja Kallas takes over as EU foreign policy chief.

Surprisingly, two of the vice-presidential posts are held by small countries: Finland and Romania. Finland’s Henna Virkkunen is in charge of the important area of ​​digital. The fact that von der Leyen appointed Raffaele Fitto of the far-right Fratelli d’Italia as one of her administrative deputies has been criticized by the Greens and the Social Democrats.

Fitto’s party colleagues voted against von der Leyen.

Fitto is responsible for regional financing and reform. It manages the Cohesion Fund, which accounts for around a third of the EU budget and invests to compensate for differences between member states.

The SPD asks why von der Leyen chose as her vice president a politician from a party that voted against her in the EU parliament. The Christian Democrats (EPP) counter that Italy, the EU’s third-largest economy, should be given a major role.

New Department of Defense

Among the commissioners, Andrius Kubilius is in charge of defense, a newly created department to support and better integrate the armament efforts of member states. This means that two commissioners from the Baltic countries, Kallas from Estonia and Kubilius from Lithuania, are responsible for European foreign and defense policy.

The Balts are particularly pressing for a difficult path towards Moscow. Austrian Magnus Brunner will be in charge of migration policy and the implementation of the EU asylum deal passed in June, a sensitive task that has repeatedly caused conflict between member states.

Germany has recently angered its EU neighbours with temporary border controls. Poland, the biggest net beneficiary in the EU, gets a budget portfolio with Piotr Serafin.

Gender equality Missed it

The future committee will consist of 11 women and 16 men, or 40% women, so Von der Leyen cannot assert her wish to ensure a balanced composition among member states.

The committee chair tried to compensate by giving women important positions or portfolios.

Some EU MEPs are amused by the fact that von der Leyen has appointed Hungarian candidate Oliver Varhelyi to be responsible for animal welfare in Europe, outside of health. Varhelyi is currently in charge of expansion in the Commission. He has become unpopular after falsely announcing a halt to all payments to Palestinians following Hamas attacks on Israel and calling MEPs idiots while on the mic.

Are you starting at the end of the year?

The nominated members will have to undergo hearings in the EU Parliament in the coming weeks. The expert committee will check for suitability and bias. Candidates regularly fail.

Finally, the full commission must be approved by the legislature in a single vote, so it is unlikely that the new commission will begin its work in November as planned. Some even predict that it will not begin until the end of the year.