The lucky new commissioners and their economy-focused portfolios

President Ursula von der Leyen said on Tuesday (17 September) that balancing the overarching aims of competitiveness and security with the number of member states wanting their candidate to have an economy-related portfolio heavily influenced how she structured her College of Commissioners.

“Around 20 member states wanted a strong economic portfolio. We do not have 20 strong economic portfolios,” von der Leyen told reporters. 

The Commission president added that her new college would also be “more fluid, more intertwined” – with some traditional “econ” portfolios (e.g. competition) being handed to Commissioners whose responsibilities extend far beyond the economy (to encompass, e.g., climate change). 

Here is Euractiv’s guide to the lucky commissioners with economy-focused portfolios over the next mandate. 

Ribera and Sejourné to work on Clean Industrial Deal
Spaniard Teresa Ribera, who will become executive vice president for Clean, Just and Competitive Transition, will also head the portfolio for competition policy held by Margrethe Vestager. 

As the new Competition Commissioner, Ribera should implement a “new approach to competition policy,” von der Leyen’s mission letter states, which should be “more supportive of companies scaling up in global markets.” 

Ribera is also expected to work alongside Stéphane Séjourné, the designated executive vice president for prosperity and industrial strategy, to present a “Clean Industrial Deal” within the first 100 days of the new Commission. 

Following the row with the French government to replace former Internal Market Commissioner Thierry Breton, von der Leyen appointed French Foreign Minister and former Renew Europe group chief Séjourné as one of her six executive vice presidents.

His role will include ensuring coherence between national state aid and the European single market, revising rules on public procurements to “enable preference for European products”, and widening the definition of small- and medium-sized companies (SMEs). 

Italy’s Fitto to head cohesion policy
Under von der Leyen’s plans, Italian pick Raffaele Fitto will be executive vice president for Cohesion Policy and Reforms. 

By promoting cohesion policy from a regular commissioner role to an Executive Vice President role, von der Leyen is countering concerns that cohesion policy, making up a third of the EU’s spending, could lose out to new EU priorities, such as defence.  

Tasked with making cohesion policy “more focused, simpler and more impactful,” Fitto will also implement the post-pandemic Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF).

His role will also include fulfilling the new promise of a “right to stay”—originally proposed by Enrico Letta in his report on the single market—which will aim to bring the EU closer to citizens.

However, Fitto is among the most controversial candidates, given his nomination by hard-right Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni. 

Dombrovskis to cut red tape, Serafin to lead budget talks
Valdis Dombrovskis, who so far had the role of executive vice president, will be downgraded to the role of the regular economy commissioner, which will see him take over the work of implementing the EU’s fiscal rules. 

He will also lead the work on “implementation and simplification” of EU rules, von der Leyen said, which she initially wanted to award to a vice president role, according to her political guidelines. 

Meanwhile, Polish national Piotr Serafin will lead the work on the next long-term budget for the EU from 2028 to 2034, a thorny task that will require him to balance new EU priorities with traditional EU spending. 

Von der Leyen announced that he would report directly to her in this role, giving him more independence in the foreseeable clashes with commissioners for cohesion policy, agriculture, and EU spending beneficiaries. 

Meanwhile, taxation will not be part of Serafin’s responsibilities, instead going to Climate Commissioner and former Dutch finance minister Woepke Hoekstra, who is tasked, among other things, to find “innovative solutions for a coherent tax framework for the EU’s financial sector.” 

Šefčovič to hold trade and economic security portfolios
Renominated for a fifth term in Brussels by the Slovak government, Maroš Šefčovič will take over the role of trade commissioner from Valdis Dombrovskis.

An experienced and widely respected political operator, Šefčovič, who previously held the powerful job of overseeing the von der Leyen’s flagship Green Deal initiative, will also take on the Commission’s new Economic Security portfolio and continue in his current role overseeing interinstitutional relations. 

The Slovak will be expected to navigate turbulent geopolitical waters, including rising trade tensions with China and the US. He will also be expected to “finalise trade agreements under negotiation” and contribute to the EU’s push to diversify its supply of materials critical for the green transition from Beijing. 

Albuquerque to push for deeper CMU integration
The former Portuguese finance minister Maria Luís Albuquerque will succeed Irish Commissioner Mairead McGuinness as the next European commissioner for financial services.  

Von der Leyen touted her “vast experience” as a government minister and “enormous experience” in the private sector, working as a non-executive director for UK-based asset manager Arrow Global. 

Albuquerque’s main task will be to push for deeper integration of the Capital Markets Union (CMU), which, experts say, could leverage hundreds of billions of euros in funds that could be used to make critical investments. 

However, Albuquerque is likely to face significant resistance among member states towards deeper CMU integration, especially over centralised financial supervision and the harmonisation of tax and insolvency law.

Von der Leyen’s mission letter elaborates that Albuquerque will also be tasked with boosting financial literacy, unlocking bank financing through “revising the use of securitisation”, and working with the EU’s new chief diplomat, Kaja Kallas, to prevent sanctions circumvention. 

Zaharieva to boost European research, Mînzatu working on skills
The Bulgarian former justice and foreign minister Ekaterina Zaharieva will lead the EU’s efforts to boost innovation.

“We must put research and innovation, science and technology at the centre of our economy,” von der Leyen said on Tuesday. “[Zaharieva]  will  help  ensure  that  we  invest more and focus our spending on strategic priorities and on groundbreaking innovation.” 

Roxana Mînzatu fulfils Romanian Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu’s desire for a “relevant” portfolio by being elevated to the position of executive vice president for People, Skills, and Preparedness – taking over the “social rights” portfolio from Luxembourger Nicolas Schmit. 

In her mission letter to Mînzatu, von der Leyen noted that the Romanian will be expected to introduce a “right to disconnect”, improve EU citizens’ access to quality jobs, contribute to affordable housing, and address Europe’s widening skills gap with the US.