Why the appointment of commissioners is an important issue

The composition of the European Commission was detailed on Tuesday with the responsibilities of each commissioner.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen unveiled the composition of her next cabinet on Tuesday 17 September at the European Parliament in Strasbourg. College of Commissioners. This is only a first step, MEPs will then examine his candidacies in October, with the right of veto. But at this stage, the list of candidate Commissioners is completewith the attributions of each.

The Commissioners are part of the European Commission, the executive of the European Union, in a way the government of Europe. The Commissioner is a bit like a minister: he has a portfolio, an administration. For example, the Commissioner for Agriculture deals with everything related to agriculture in the Union. There are 27 Commissioners, each with their own area of ​​responsibility. They work in Brussels, where the Commission is based. They meet every week. They are appointed for five years.

Their actions have very concrete consequences. The current Commissioner for Competition – who will soon step down – the Danish Margrethe Vestager, has relentlessly pursued the American technology giants who are constantly trying to evade taxes. With her work, she managed to have Apple ordered in mid-September to pay 13 billion euros in back taxes to Ireland. To achieve her goal, the Commissioner fought for eight years with the IT giant.

The role of the Commissioners is also important for the different countries that make up the European Union. Each country tries to obtain positions of Commissioner in important areas with, in addition, places of Vice-President of the Commission. France thus proposed Stéphane Séjourné for the portfolio of the “industrial strategy”a very sensitive subject for the attempts at reindustrialization of France and Europe in the face of China and the United States. This particularly concerns the field of ecological transition and the automobile industry with the supply of cars and their price: very concrete subjects for consumers.

The role of European Commissioners is finally important for political parties. Even today, it is the European right that dominates the European Parliament with a liberal vision of the economy. But the European elections last June saw a surge of the extreme right and Eurosceptic parties. Italy, led by the extreme right, obtained that one of its ministers obtain a post of “Vice-President of the European Commission” and he will be responsible for “regional cohesion policies of the Union”. This “cohesion policy” aims to close the development gaps between the richest and poorest regions of Europe. Europe pays colossal sums: 335 billion euros over six years, that is almost a third of the Union budget. The Commissioner who holds this portfolio has enormous power.