The EU college of commissioners has been approved by the European Parliament, setting the stage for the next five years of EU politics and government.
Yesterday, the parliament voted to accept the commissioners with 370 MEPs voting in favour, 282 against and 36 abstained.
The new commissioners are set to enter their roles on 1 December.
‘Good day for Europe’
European Commission (EC) president Ursula von der Leyen, who was approved by the parliament earlier this year, welcomed her new college:
“Today is a good day for Europe because this vote shows that the centre is holding. I am very grateful for the confidence expressed by the Parliament to the new College.
“The European Parliament's vote allows us to start now on 1 December. We are eager to start. And it is critical, because time is pressing.
During the months-long process of forming the new EC, von der Leyen has been emphasising the need to protect European borders, improve competitiveness and address climate change.
Work on trusted trade
Fergus McReynolds, the Chartered Institute for Export & International Trade’s international director, welcomed the confirmation:
“It is a crucial time for Europe, with greater geopolitical instability than at the start of any mandate in recent times, conflict on the continent of Europe and the incoming presidency of Donald Trump on the other side of the Atlantic.
“While undoubtedly the commission will focus on European competitiveness, it is essential that the EU remains a champion of rules-based order in global trade and uses the next five years to create an environment for trusted trade into and out of Europe.
“The Chartered Institute looks forward to working with commissioner Maroš Šefčovič on this.”
Šefčovič, an experienced EU political operator, is set to handle the trade brief in this new commission.
Margins and politics
This is the first time that every nominee to a commission post has been accepted.
However, the margin of approval was considerably narrower than in previous votes, receiving only 54% support from MEPs. Von der Leyen’s first college received 65% approval in the vote, while none of her predecessors slipped below 60%.
Additionally, a majority of four of the eight political parties voted in favour of the commission.
The same coalition that elected her – the European People's Party (EPP), Socialists & Democrats (S&D), liberal Renew and Greens – also supported her choices, while the far-right Patriots, right-wing European Conservatives and Reformers (ECR) and the Left groups voted against.
This is also set to be the most right-wing college in recent years, with 14 members from the EPP compared to only 5 from Renew, 4 S&Ds and 1 ECR.
Individual commissioner choices also created tension among the coalition. The ECR only congratulated Italian executive vice-president for cohesion and reforms Raffaele Fitto, while both Renew and S&D rebuked von der Leyen’s decision to include a commissioner from right-wing ECR.
Many left-wing parliamentarians did not support the slate of commissioners in protest against Fitto’s nomination.
Further, MEPs from various political groupings criticised the process for approval, noting that it was only possible to approve or reject the college as a whole, rather than any individual commissioner.