Good morning from Strasbourg, Ursula von der Leyen’s challenges in shaping her new team have not been easy despite the sweeping political victory of her centre-right EPP party in the June EU elections. National governments ignored her gender balance request, backstage clashes over EU portfolios, last-minute changes, and a mission to bridge political balances with policy priorities, keeping Mario Draghi’s report in mind. When almost ready, she publicly postponed the announcement for a week. Even hours before her final presentation to the EU Parliament leaders, scheduled for 9:00 today with a press conference at 11:30, one member state—Slovenia—is still unable to confirm their candidate (Marta Kos). And most importantly, the bazaar over portfolio’s remits and positions went on until the last moment, betraying a certain lack of serenity behind the scenes. It even led to a French-Italian fight as late as this weekend, with both countries pretending to lead on economy. Politically, EU centre-right commissioners prevail in numbers. Practically, though, the team she picked for vice-presidents shows a certain geographical, gender and political family-balance: two liberals (Kaja Kallas and Stéphane Séjourné), a social-democrat (Teresa Ribera) and Italy’s Raffaele Fitto, who despite being ECR-affiliated he is considered closer to the centre. Their coexistence and effectiveness remain to be seen, but for VDL, no one represents a real rival like Frans Timmermans five years ago. In a last-minute deal with Macron, VDL also managed to get rid of her biggest critic in Brussels, Thierry Breton. However, her mission does not end here as the Parliament hearings may pose more obstacles: controversial candidates, Hungary and the EU far and hard right’s hidden agenda, or sacrificing candidates for political reasons. There may be changes in the end, but politically, VDL might have managed to put her stamp on this commission even more than her first. Euractiv’s team is in Strasbourg and will cover all the developments. | 