Ursula von der Leyen unveils new European Commission team

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has announced her long-awaited list of nominees to make up the next European Commission. Her new team are tasked with challenges including wars on our European doorstep, as well as in the Middle East. Other pressing issues include migration, climate change and economic competitiveness.

Ursula von der Leyen’s list of 27 candidates still needs to be approved by the EU Parliament. Each member state of the EU has been assigned a post, but from the initial reaction of the media, it doesn’t seem that everyone is happy.

Bias Metre
Centre left
High Factuality
Ownership - Conglomerate

Spain gets top roles

“Teresa Ribera will be a sort of super commissioner with significant influence on European industrial policy. She will apply the antitrust rules and oversee state aid and mergers. This is a key position and will make Spain one of the EU’s main partners. … In her new term in office, von der Leyen has announced that she is reserving the right to change the structure of the Commission. And she has appointed 40 percent women to the top of the commissions. Although this falls short of the strict parity she had hoped for, she has nevertheless almost doubled the pitiful 22 percent that would have resulted from the governments’ proposals.”

Bias Metre
Liberal
High Factuality
Ownership - Media company

Italy’s PM is the real winner

“The post-fascist has managed to place one of her loyal followers, Raffaele Fitto, in one of the most influential posts in the Commission. He will become vice-president and commissioner for cohesion and reforms. This means he will be responsible for the European Social Fund and a fund for regional development, among other things. Meloni is over the moon about this decision, as it secures her additional power and influence in Brussels. However with this appointment, Ursula von der Leyen has lodged a political time bomb in her own Commission. Many members of the European Parliament are quite rightly appalled and have announced their opposition to the far-right Italian.”

Bias Metre
Centre-left
High Factuality
Ownership - Private

Ireland has little influence in EU

“Forget the soothing diplomatic tones from Dublin – justice is a portfolio nobody wanted. Justice means guaranteed (and often personalised) conflict with states such as Hungary and Slovakia. … The reality is that in a decade Ireland has gone from holding agriculture and rural development (a third of the EU budget), to trade (the crown jewel of the EU’s competencies) via financial services (stripped of the important bits) to the thankless task of policing wannabe European dictators under a ‘democracy shield’.”

What is the European Commission?

The European Commission serves as the executive arm of the European Union. It consists of a president, currently von der Leyen, who is proposed by the leaders of member states and then elected by the European Parliament.

The president then creates the national government equivalent of a Cabinet, whose members are informally known as commissioners, with representatives from all EU member states. European Commission members are given portfolios similar to ministers or secretaries in national governments. Their appointment is subject to approval by the European Parliament.

Some 32,000 European civil servants support the Commission in its work.