New European Commission composition proposal – Reaction by FEPS Secretary General

New European Commission composition proposal – Reaction by FEPS Secretary General László Andor

• Five years ago, the S&D group opposed Von der Leyen’s proposal to reduce the title of the Employment and Social Affairs Commissioner to just “Jobs,” and “Social Rights” were added as a result. This time, she tries to eliminate the words “social,” “employment,” and even “jobs” from the titles of Commissioners altogether. This sends a very bad message and calls for correction. 

• It was predictable that Von der Leyen would have to disappoint on numerical gender parity in view of member state’s complete lack of cooperation. In terms of substantive equality, it is worth noting that 4 out of 6 Vice President posts were attributed to women but the disappearance of Equality as a standalone portfolio is truly regrettable. Time will soon tell us whether this translates into an agenda genuinely committed to equality across portfolios, or whether it has been relegated to the sidelines.

• Ursula von der Leyen has proposed some welcome improvements as compared to the Commission structure she introduced 5 years ago. The new Commission would be less hierarchical, and some of the funny titles (“European way of life”, “Democracy and Demography”, etc) have disappeared. At the same time, new buzzwords including “clean”, “simplification”, and “preparedness”, are bound to trigger debates about their actual meaning and resulting actions. 

• Overlaps between various portfolio responsibilities, such as climate and green policies, raise questions about the Commission’s and the EU’s actual policy orientation. At the same time, one should be concerned about the way some responsibilities are organised within the new structure.

• The concentration of foreign, security and defence policies in the hands of a Baltic couple raises the possibility that EU policy does not represent the majority views of Europeans on critical international affairs. 

• The abrupt departure of Commissioner Breton is a warning sign of the risk of autocratic tendencies under von der Leyen, which must be tamed. 

• In some cases it is questionable whether there is a good match between the definition of the portfolio and the designated person. Until now, Ursula von der Leyen spoke about EU enlargement as a great priority, and now it is assigned to a last minute candidate who is not even confirmed by the sending country. The transfer of the incumbent Commissioner for enlargement and neighbourhood to health and animal welfare is also unconvincing. The disappearance of the word “neighbourhood” should also be explained to avoid misunderstandings.