European Commission's new lineup faces political pushback

By a majority of votes with 370 in favour, 282 against, and 36 abstaining, the European Parliament voted in Strasbourg for the new composition of the European Commission.

The composition of the new European Commission is as follows:

• Teresa Ribera Rodríguez (Spain): Clean, fair, and competitive transformation
• Henna Maria Virkkunen (Finland): Technological sovereignty, security, and democracy
• Stéphane Séjourné (France): Prosperity and industrial strategy
• Kaja Kallas (Estonia): Vice President, Foreign Affairs, and Security Policy
• Roxana Mînzatu (Romania): People, skills, and readiness
• Raffaele Fitto (Italy): Cohesion and reforms
• Maroš Šefčovič (Slovakia): Trade and economic security; Inter-institutional Relations and Transparency
• Valdis Dombrovskis (Latvia): Economy and productivity; Implementation and simplification
• Dubravka Šuica (Croatia): Mediterranean region
• Olivér Várhelyi (Hungary): Health and animal welfare
• Wopke Bastiaan Hoekstra (Netherlands): Climate, carbon neutrality, and clean growth
• Andrius Kubilius (Lithuania): Defence and space
• Marta Kos (Slovenia): Enlargement
• Jozef Síkela (Czech Republic): International partnerships
• Costas Kadis (Cyprus): Fisheries and oceans
• Maria Luís Albuquerque (Portugal): Financial services, savings and investment union
• Hadja Lahbib (Belgium): Preparedness and crisis management; Equality
• Magnus Brunner (Austria): Internal affairs and migration
• Jessika Roswall (Sweden): Environment, water resilience, and competitive circular economy
• Piotr Arkadiusz Serafin (Poland): Budget and public administration and fighting fraud
• Dan Jørgensen (Denmark): Energy and housing
• Ekaterina Spasova Gecheva-Zaharieva (Bulgaria): Start-ups, research, and innovation
• Michael McGrath (Ireland): Democracy, justice, and the rule of law
• Apostolos Tzitzikostas (Greece): Sustainable transport and tourism
• Christophe Hansen (Luxembourg): Agriculture and food
• Glenn Micallef (Malta): Intergenerational justice, youth, culture, and sport

For the first time in history, a commissioner for defence, Lithuanian Andrius Kubilius, has been appointed. Also new is the portfolio of Intergenerational Justice, Youth, Culture, and Sport, given to the young Maltese commissioner Glenn Micallef, born in 1989, who is set to connect different generations of politicians.

The EU budget will be managed by the Polish commissioner, Piotr Serafin, who has been entrusted with the financial portfolio.

“Our budget is often too complex – funding the same thing in different programmes and in different ways. We must be much more focused on investing in our priorities. This is why I have put Piotr Serafin in charge of shaping our next MFF”, said Ursula von der Leyen during a speech before the European Parliament.

Among those who opposed the confirmation of the second European Commission led by von der Leyen were, among others, the European Conservatives and Reformists, which includes parties like Law and Justice, Brothers of Italy, Romanian AUR, Swedish Democrats, and the Finns Party. In their speeches, representatives from political groups accused von der Leyen of her previous Commission's failures and argued she should not be forming the new composition.

However, there were more balanced voices among the European right.

Belgian MEP Assita Kanko from the ECR stated that she had had enough of backroom political games and emphasized the need to start working, even though she did not fully agree with all the proposed commissioners. She explained that she would cast her vote for the new European Commission that day, as failing to do so would let down citizens who would bear the cost of the delay.

Meanwhile, the left side of the European political spectrum reacted with indignation to the EC composition proposal, which included members from anti-EU groups.

MEP Bas Eickhout from the Greens group passionately declared from the podium that far-right politicians were unacceptable. He insisted that their group and voices were not for sale and challenged anyone who claimed that Fitto was not part of the far-right to explain that to Italian mothers and journalists. He stated firmly that they could not support the presence of such politicians. Meanwhile, the European People's Party and the Socialists and Democrats congratulated Ursula von der Leyen for forming a composition that, in their view, considered all viewpoints in Europe.

Manfred Weber, the leader of the European People's Party, expressed his satisfaction with forming a broad coalition, emphasizing the need for a stable majority in the European Parliament to fulfill the promises made to Europeans. The European People's Party also strongly advocated for the promotion of the ECR group candidate, Italian Raffaele Fitto, to the role of Vice-President of the new European Commission. Fitto is expected to take on the Vice-President position for Cohesion and Reforms, a portfolio of significant economic importance.

The new Commission will begin its work on December 1st. Its appointment is possible without convening a European Council summit, as the latter will approve the new composition of the Commission using the written procedure of the Treaty on European Union – the day after the new EC composition is approved by the Parliament. This procedure was used previously in 2019.