These are the main developments of this week presented by ‘Euronews’ editor-in-chief for EU politics, Jeremy Fleming-Jones.
Key dates on the agenda:
- Monday September 9: The former Prime Minister of Italy Mario Draghi presents their conclusions on competitiveness.
- Tuesday, September 10: The Court of Justice of the EU will hand down a ruling in two historic appeals: an antitrust matter related to Google and a state aid matter related to Apple’s taxation.
- Wednesday, September 11: The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, will meet with the Conference of Presidents of the European Parliament, where Commission portfolios expected to be shared.
- Wednesday, September 11: Commissioner Maros Sefcovic is expected to unveil the report on the state of the Energy Union.
In the spotlight
On Wednesday, Ursula von der Leyen will unveil her portfolios, so speculation regarding the appointment of candidates to the Commission should be on the agenda.
a table distributed last week by members of the European People’s Party (EPP) Von der Leyen suggests that the center-right group will take over many of the most coveted policies of the Community Executive, including the positions to which the socialists aspire.
The leak confirms previous information according to which three executive vice presidencies will be for Spain, France and Italy. The document suggested that the Spanish Teresa Ribera would receive the Digital Green Transition as a portfolio. A subsequent report from the ‘Financial Times’ pointed to Ribera as Margrethe Vestager’s replacement at the head of Competition, a position also proposed for the Austrian Magnus Brunner, in order to maintain the climate portfolio within the EPP.
The Frenchman Thierry Breton will be responsible for Industry and Strategic Autonomyand Italian Raffaele Fittoof Economy and Post-Pandemic Recovery.
Von der Leyen has already made it clear that will only appoint executive vice presidents in its new Executiveeliminating a handful of other vice presidencies that exist in the current committee structure.
The European Parliament will closely examine the possible appointment of Raffaele Fitto as executive vice-president, since the right-wing faction he represents did not support the candidacy Von der Leyen’s presidential election.
But a good starting point will be check the specific functions of the commissioners that fall within the scope of the EPP. For example, if he were to win the Economy and Post-Pandemic Recovery portfolio, other commissioners with more direct responsibility for financial services and cohesion funds may have more power.
If Von der Leyen reveals the chosen team this week, attention will immediately focus in parliamentary hearings confirmation.
The document leaked last week suggested that the Hungarian Prime Minister’s pick, Viktor Orbánthe current commissioner Oliver Varhelyi, probably would be rejected and could be replaced by another of Orbán’s favorites, Fidesz MEP Eniko Gyori.
Political news
The Slovenian Tomaz Vesel withdrew his candidacy last week to be part of Ursula von der Leyen’s team of European commissioners, after the Slovenian Government was pressured to appoint a female candidateaccording to the Slovenian news agency STA.
The former MEP and current Minister of Foreign Affairs, Tanja Fajon, is running as a candidate to replace her. Romania he had already replaced Victor Negrescuoriginal candidate for the Commission, by the current MEP and former Minister of European Funds Roxana Minzatuin an attempt to meet Von der Leyen’s demands to ensure greater gender balance among her senior officials.
