Von der Leyen chooses her government, less equal and more right-wing

The President of the European Commission, the popular Ursula von der Leyenpresented its government structure on Tuesday with the election of the six vice presidents in a manager who will be that less equal –40% female commissioners, although there are more vice-presidents than vice-presidents – and tilted more to the right – there is only one socialist, the Spanish Ribera, and one vice-president has become far-right – than the previous one, a faithful reflection of the new composition of the European Parliament after the elections of 9 June. As is known, the six vice-presidents have their own portfolios, in addition to their horizontal responsibilities.

The new European Commission will have the Spanish woman at the head of its economic team Teresa Riberanominated as executive vice president of Clean, Fair and Competitive Transition, and Frans Stéphane Sejournéappointed Executive Vice President of Prosperity and Industrial Strategy.

In the case of Ribera, the current third vice-president of the Spanish government, this will be the portfolio of Authorityone of the most important tasks within the executive branch, from which it will be responsible for authorizing business activities with a European dimension or preventing large companies from abusing their dominant position in the market, among other tasks. Sejourné will in turn be responsible for the portfolio of Industry, SMEs and internal marketwhich was also in the hands of the French commissioner during the previous legislature.

The ultra-Italian will also be given the rank of executive vice-president Raffaele Fittowho has been nominated for the Cohesion and Reforms portfolio, and the Romanian Roxana Minzatuto which von der Leyen has assigned responsibilities in the areas of employment, social rights and education.

On the other hand, the Commissioner for Economy will be the current Economic Vice-President, Valdis Dombrovskiswho has also been nominated to take on the Implementation and Simplification portfolio, reporting directly to the head of the Community Executive.

Furthermore, if subsequently confirmed by the European Parliament, the Commissioner for Financial Services and the Union for Savings and Investments will fall under the Portuguese government. Maria Luis Albuquerque.

Once the so-called College of Commissioners was presented, it was European Parliament In the coming weeks, she will analyse the conflicts of interest, CV, political priorities and merits of each of the nominees for access to the position, and can veto one or more candidates if you are not convinced by the profile. It is not an ordinary procedure: in 2019, the European Parliament rejected three candidates.

The date on which the new European Commission will take up its duties will depend on the smoothness of this parliamentary process, which is officially scheduled for November 1st.