What lessons can be learned from the composition of Ursula von der Leyen’s new Commission?

A team “more fluid, more connected and more coordinated”. This is the promise made by the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, during the presentation of her new team on Tuesday, September 17, at a press conference in Strasbourg (Bas-Rhin). The German leader, re-elected for a second term in July, detailed the names and responsibilities of the 27 commissioners (one per member state of the European Union, including herself).

The announcement of the architecture of the European executive was highly anticipated, after two months of negotiations and the surprise resignation of French Commissioner Thierry Breton on Monday – and his replacement by Stéphane Séjourné. The commissioners will only be invested once they have been validated by MEPs in the coming weeks. Here is what to remember from this presentation.

The major EU countries (including France) in force

Building a new commission is always a headache: the team must respect the political, but also geographical balances of the EU. Ursula von der Leyen has chosen to give important portfolios to the most important countries of the Union. France, Spain and Italy will all have a position of executive vice-president, while Poland recovers the important position of Budget Commissioner. The resigning French Minister of Foreign Affairs, Stéphane Séjourné, thus appears as “winner”with his position in Prosperity and Industrial Strategy, judges Thierry Chopin, special advisor to the Jacques Delors Institute, to franceinfo.

The organisation of the future commission also highlights geopolitical changes in Europe. “Important portfolios have been granted to Northern Europe and the Baltic countries, following the appointment of Estonian Kaja Kallas as High Representative for Foreign Affairs”the specialist points out. Proof that the war in Ukraine has profoundly transformed the EU since it was triggered by Russia in 2022. While some countries, such as Ireland, recover a less prestigious position than in 2019, Ursula von der Leyen recalled that a “twenty member states wanted an economic portfolio, which is not possible”.

A more readable organization than in 2019

Goodbye to the fancy titles of the previous Commission – like the former Commissioner for Promoting the European way of life – and its complex organisation. Ursula von der Leyen has favoured simple portfolio titles, such as “Prosperity and Industrial Strategy” or “Internal Affairs and Migration”, and a clear hierarchy. The president will be supported by six executive vice-presidents, including Stéphane Séjourné, who will oversee the work of the 20 commissioners. This will ensure that all members of the college speak with one voice. “We will have debates (…), but we will have to take responsibility for what we have agreed on as a college”warned the president. A way of turning the page after the conflicting relations she had with the very media-friendly former French commissioner Thierry Breton.

“He There is a fairly good balance between the different portfolios, which was not at all the case during his previous mandate.”underlines Sophia Russack, researcher at the Centre for European Policy Studies in Brussels. Thierry Chopin notes, himself, “the importance of the links woven between the different subjects”as “on security which is found in several portfolios, in particular on technology issues”.

Economy as a priority, the Green Deal on a thread

Priorities, “prosperity, security and democracy”as detailed by the President of the Commission, are reflected in the distribution of posts. Ursula von der Leyen has clearly heard the conclusions of the recent report by the Italian Mario Draghi on the EU’s economic difficulties. “The organization says a lot about the importance placed on competitiveness and economic issues,” says Thierry Chopin. A way of “respect the new political balances”according to the specialist, and to satisfy the European right, which came first in the European elections on June 9.

The environmentalists, the big losers in the last election, and the left are also worried that the EU is revising its climate ambitions downwards. The implementation of the Green Deal, which aims for carbon neutrality by 2050, was one of the priorities of the previous Commission and was harshly criticized by the right and the far right. Green MEP Marie Toussaint thus denounced “a brutal brake on the ecological transition and social justice”in a press release. “The Green Deal is over”even LFI MEP Damien Carême was outraged on X.

The responsibility for leading these issues will fall to there Spanish Ecology Minister Teresa Ribera appointed Vice President for Transition “fair, clean and competitive”. The socialist is considered an expert on these issues. “Climate issues are not abandoned, the implementation phase is over and now we have to put things into practice. Green issues are still there”nuances Sophia Russack.

A non-joint commission, despite promises

Ursula von der Leyen stated the objective of a joint committee. But the member states did not listen to the president, who had asked them to submit two names, one man and one woman. As a result, only 11 women (out of 27) will be part of the next executive, fewer than in 2019. “It’s 40% of college”admitted the leader, stressing that “when”[elle a] received the first nominations” the number of women “was at 22%”. A number “intolerable” who pushed the President of the Commission “to work with the Member States” to bring it back up.

The German also welcomed the establishment of “parity at the top” by appointing four out of six vice-presidents. “There The bar has been raised pretty well on this subject”a Macronist MEP told franceinfo, while still denouncing “a fundamental problem caused by the Member States” who did not respect the demands for parity. “I honestly don’t even know how she managed to impose parity in her first term, I think it was partly due to luck”wonders Sophia Russack.

Far-right gets vice-presidential spot

A flammable subject, the Italian Raffaele Fitto, member of the far-right government of Giorgia Meloni, obtained a title of vice-president for Cohesion. Italy “rediscovers its central role” in the EU, the Italian leader immediately reacted to X, while the left and the centre in the European Parliament had issued warnings against this nomination. Ursula von der Leyen defended her choice by highlighting the country’s weight in the Union and its place “founding member”. Above all, Ursula von der Leyen had a good game in pointing the finger at the presence of two vice-presidents from the extreme right Giorgia Meloni in the European Parliament.

Was the Italian Prime Minister, who did not support the re-election of Ursula von der Leyen, still rewarded? “In reality, even though he is vice-president, Raffaele Fitto has not managed to obtain an economic portfolio. Cohesion, even if it is an important subject, is perhaps a lot of consolation”says Thierry Chopin. Not enough to reassure some of the MEPs, who will hear the putative commissioners in the coming weeks, before validating their nomination. Could the Italian’s nomination be blocked? “We will lead the fight”promises Marie Toussaint to franceinfo. “It seems difficult to me, because it is not so much his name that is called into question as his attributions”nevertheless tempers a centrist MEP.