Headed again by the German Ursula von der Leyen and with Teresa Ribera as the Spanish representative, the new European Commission officially starts this Sunday with 26 commissioners in charge of unprecedented portfolios in the community Executive, such as Defense, Housing or the Mediterranean.
Starting tomorrow, Monday, the new commissioners will begin working on challenges and missions entrusted by Von der Leyen for the next five years.
Teresa Ribera, executive vice president for a Clean, Fair and Competitive Transition and head of Competition, will coordinate the Pact for a Clean Industry that she will present in the first hundred days of her mandate, so that the ecological transition “accompanies people and companies” and It will need to ensure that competition policy can support the EU’s ambitions.
The Frenchman Stéphane Séjourné, executive vice president for Prosperity and Industrial Strategy, in addition to working alongside Ribera in the Pact for a Clean Industry, will have to “bring together the dimensions of the industry and the European single market” in this green transition and towards a more competitive Europe.
Finland’s Henna Virkunnen, Executive Vice President for Technological Sovereignty, Security and Democracy, will ensure that Europe “can use digital technologies to boost its prosperity, foster innovation and help keep people safe.
The Romanian Roxana Minzatu, executive vice president for Social Rights, Skills, Quality Jobs and Preparation, will have as a priority “putting people” at the center of the labor debate, “because productivity depends on good working conditions”, from a salary right up to a balance between personal and professional life.
The Italian Raffaelle Fitto, executive vice president for Cohesion and Reforms, will focus on solving “the problems facing regions”, such as changing demographics, climate change or the need to modernize their infrastructure.
Estonian Kaja Kallas, EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, will have to place “multilateralism, partnerships, sustainable development and human rights” at the center of the EU’s external action.
With his previous experience as a key negotiator at the United Nations climate summits, the Dutch Commissioner for Climate, Zero Emissions and Clean Growth, Wopke Hoekstra, must continue to “lead the way” towards a Europe that grows cleanly and whose emissions greenhouse gases are offset by other policies.
Dan Jorgensen, Commissioner for Energy and Housing, takes on the task of continuing to lower energy prices, coordinate investments in clean energy and replace investments in liquefied natural gas from Russia. At the same time, it will need to address the housing crisis.
Bulgarian Ekaterina Zaharieva, Commissioner for Emerging Businesses, Research and Innovation, will work to ensure that emerging companies can succeed in Europe without having to deal with 27 different bureaucratic barriers.
Greek Transport and Tourism Commissioner Apostolos Tzizikostas will have to pave the way for the transport and tourism sectors until they are “clean and competitive.”
The Slovak Maros Sefcovic, Commissioner for Trade and Economic Security, as well as for Interinstitutional Relations and Transparency, will have to ensure that excessive dependencies of the European economy do not become “vulnerabilities”, in areas such as raw materials or minerals essential for the clean transition.
Czech Commissioner for International Partnerships Jozef Síkela will bring his “business mindset and experience” to the table to develop a strategic approach towards international partnerships and sustainable development.
The Croatian Dubravka Suica launches the new portfolio for the Mediterranean to strengthen the relationship with the territories with which Europe is linked by history and geography and “shares coasts, challenges and opportunities.”
Belgian Commissioner for Crisis Management and Equality Hadja Lahbib will be tasked with increasing European resilience and identifying all the continent’s critical dependencies, while continuing to advance the cause of women’s rights.
The Hungarian Oliver Várhelyi, Commissioner for Health and Animal Health, must lead the European proposals on biotechnologies and his first priority will be to develop a Critical Medicines Law.
The job of the Swedish Commissioner for the Environment, Water Resilience and for a Competitive Circular Economy, Jessika Roswall, will be to develop a competitive circular economy in conjunction with other commissioners working in the same area.
Lithuanian Defense Commissioner Andrius Kubilius will work on a single market for this area, strengthening the defense industrial base, improving military mobility and launching common European projects in this area.
The Slovenian Marta Kos, Commissioner for Enlargement, will work for “a continent united by democracy, the rule of law and respect for fundamental freedoms” as principles that guide the expansion of the EU towards the east and will support the candidate countries.
Designing the next Multiannual Financial Framework, the seven-year budget of the European Union, and specifically the one that will be applied between 2028 and 2034, with the aim of simplifying it will be the main task of Polish Budget Commissioner Piotr Serafin.
The Portuguese Maria Luís Albuquerque, Commissioner for Financial Services and a Savings and Investment Union, will have to ensure that European companies find in Europe the capital they are looking for, to cover the deficiencies in spending on research and development in the private sector.
The Latvian Valdis Dombrovskis, Commissioner for Economy, Productivity, Implementation and Simplification, will focus on reducing the regulatory burden on companies, eliminating duplication and giving them legal certainty about what is expected of them.
While the Luxembourger Christophe Hansen, Commissioner for Agriculture, will lead the strategic dialogue with the sector and will have to “use his skills to find compromises” and ensure that European farmers have “fair and sufficient” income and incentives necessary to protect nature.
The Cypriot Costas Kadis, Commissioner for Fisheries and Oceans, will have to help Europe’s fishing communities to “thrive”, so that they perceive that Europe “is at their side” just as they have always provided food to the continent.
The Austrian Magnus Brunner, Commissioner for the Interior and Migration, will have the task of implementing the Migration and Asylum Pact agreed in the final stages of the previous legislature and finding the right balance between “stricter rules and guarantees of the individual rights” of the migrants.
Consolidating the tools available to Brussels to ensure that all countries comply with the basic values of the EU and developing new ones will be the main challenge of the Irishman Michael McGrath, Commissioner for Democracy, Justice, Rule of Law and Consumer Protection.
And finally, the Maltese Glenn Micallef, Commissioner for Intergenerational Justice, Youth, Culture and Sport, will have to bridge bridges between generations, support youth and “ensure solidarity between people of all ages.”
The new European Commission officially starts this Sunday
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