Who is Teresa Ribeira, the new European Commissioner for Competition?

Minister for Ecological Transition under Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, the former lawyer has specialized in climate-related issues since the late 2000s. She could bring “a socialist approach” to the Commission.

A change of direction. While she was expected to be the future European Commissioner for Climate and Environment, the Spanish Teresa Ribera obtains the Competition portfolio. She replaces the Danish Margrethe Vestager.

This appointment in Ursula von der Leyen’s new team is not a surprise. Throughout the summer, she has been in contact with the President of the European Commission, with a view to a possible appointment. However, their relationship is far from idyllic.

Last May, Teresa Ribera denounced “the extremely pernicious attitude of resignation” of her new superior regarding the European Green Deal. She considered at the time that the German was giving ground to the extreme right, fiercely opposed to this ecological treaty, in order to ensure her reappointment at the head of the European body.

Thorough knowledge of files

“She had some harsh words against von der Leyen, but the College of Commissioners will have to get used to her saying things as she thinks them. She doesn’t have that political side of wanting to please everyone and always make herself likeable,” explained Gonzalo Escribano, head of the Energy and Climate program at the Royal Elcano Institute in The Express.

To successfully fight these battles, Teresa Ribera relies on a detailed knowledge of the issues, her close friends report. Issues on which she has been working for almost 15 years now. A lawyer by training, she began her career in politics as Secretary of State for Climate Change (208-2011). Expatriated to Paris, she directed the Institute for Sustainable Development and International Relations (IDDRI) from 2014 to 2018, and participated in the negotiations for the Paris Agreement in 2015.

“Socialist approach”

At 55, Pedro Sanchez’s current Minister for Ecological Transition should bring a “socialist approach” to this new configuration of commissioners. A valued interlocutor on the Brussels side, she was at the forefront of the negotiations for the reform of the European electricity market. She obtained a temporary exemption so that Spain, like Portugal, could adjust the rules of this market: this is the “Iberian exception”.

Thanks to the implementation of this mechanism, which has allowed the price of gas to be decoupled from electricity, the bills of Spanish households have been reduced. Its perception in the public has, however, increased. In Spain, it is also recognized for having curbed illegal passages intended for strawberry crops, which are drying up the Doñana National Park in Andalusia.

At the European level, her anti-nuclear positions have earned her the distrust of nuclear advocates. “She has strong convictions but is not a maximalist in her positions,” the Spanish expert told L’Express. Her close friends praise her ability to find compromises.