Everything you need to know about the new Commission

Everything you need to know about the new Commission

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Tuesday (17 September) unveiled her plan to divide responsibilities among the European Union’s next crop of commissioners.

Von der Leyen surprised EU watchers by proposing Romania’s Roxana Mînzatu and Finland’s Henna Virkkunen for vice-presidential roles, while sending three incumbents back to more junior positions. Two are Commission veterans: Slovakia’s Maroš Šefčovič and Latvia’s Valdis Dombrovskis. Croatia’s Dubravka Šuica was also demoted.

Three others in line for top vice-presidential jobs were anticipated: Spain’s Teresa Ribera and Italy’s Raffaele Fitto, as well as France’s Stéphane Séjourné. Completing the group of six vice-presidents is Estonia’s Kaja Kallas, who was already picked by EU governments as the bloc’s foreign affairs representative.

Lithuania’s Andrius Kubilius was announced as the bloc’s new defence and space commissioner, a role considered central to the EU’s ambitions to rearm faced with the threat from Russia.

For years, Kubilius, a former Lithuanian prime minister, was an active member of the European Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee where he worked closely on the EU’s relations with Russia. He was re-elected as EU lawmaker in the June 2024 elections.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen told reporters in Strasbourg that Kubilius “will work on developing the European defence union and boosting our investment in industrial capacity. ”

Europe’s proposed new team of energy and climate commissioners are a balance of left and right, with key lawmakers expecting more pragmatic policymaking as a result.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen proposed Spain’s Teresa Ribera (S&D) as executive vice-president in charge of the wider climate and competition portfolio, with joint responsibility for the clean industrial strategy.

Dutchman Wopke Hoekstra (EPP, climate) and Dane Dan Jørgensen (S&D, energy) will serve under her.

“We want to build a competitive decarbonised and circular economy with a fair transition for all,” von der Leyen said in Strasbourg on Tuesday (17 September).

President Ursula von der Leyen said that balancing the overarching aims of competitiveness and security with the number of member states wanting their candidate to have an economy-related portfolio heavily influenced how she structured her College of Commissioners.

“Around 20 member states wanted a strong economic portfolio. We do not have 20 strong economic portfolios,” von der Leyen told reporters.

The Commission president added that her new college would also be “more fluid, more intertwined” – with some traditional “econ” portfolios (e.g. competition) being handed to Commissioners whose responsibilities extend far beyond the economy (to encompass, e.g. climate change).

After a week of wrangling between Brussels and Ljubljana, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen designated Slovenia’s Marta Kos for the bloc’s coveted enlargement portfolio.

Kos, who will replace Hungarian Enlargement and Neighbourhood Commissioner Olivér Várhelyi, is a former Slovenian ambassador to Germany, Latvia and Switzerland.

She “will work on supporting Ukraine – and continuing the work on reconstruction, and support candidate countries to prepare them for accession,” Von der Leyen told reporters when announcing her new team in Strasbourg.

Christophe Hansen, Luxembourg’s nominee for EU commissioner, is set to oversee the agriculture and food security portfolio – pending confirmation by the European Parliament – during the 2024-2029 term.

Von der Leyen tasked Hansen with developing a vision for the sector within the first 100 days of the mandate, that is, by March 2025. This commitment was part of her re-election speech to Parliament in July.
The upcoming plan will be informed by the recent results of the Strategic Dialogue on the Future of EU Agriculture, in which food stakeholders have called for a shift away from the Common Agricultural Policy’s (CAP) land-based subsidies toward greater support for small farms.

Finland’s Henna Virkkunen has been appointed as the European Commission’s next executive vice-president for Tech Sovereignty, Security, and Democracy, signalling a shift in EU digital policy.

The next Commission’s slogan is ‘competitiveness in global markets’, as European leaders are increasingly concerned about reliance on third countries for key technologies.
Virkkunen will oversee “digitalisation and digital infrastructure,” described by von der Leyen as “pre-conditions for being at the cutting edge of research and development,” adding that these are, in turn, key to Europe’s competitiveness globally.