Big posts for large countries

France and Germany emerge as big winners in new European Commission.

José Manuel Barroso’s allocation of portfolios in the new European Commission gives the EU’s largest member states some of the big posts that they had most prized.

France secured the portfolio of internal market for its commissioner, Michel Barnier, a portfolio that will also give it responsibility for financial services. Jonathan Faull, a British citizen, will take over as director-general for the internal market, a move that is being seen as an attempt to reassure the UK about Barnier’s appointment.

The appointment of Romanian Dacian Cioloş to be the next agriculture commissioner can also be seen as a victory for France, which had long lent its support for Cioloş’s bid for the position.

Germany secured the increasingly important portfolio of energy for its new commissioner, Günther Oettinger, a former president of the state of Baden-Württemburg. The appointment has prompted concern that EU energy policy could be tailored to favour the interests of giants of Germany’s energy sector, such as E.ON, RWE and EnBW.

France and Germany has opposed attempts to separate the various business operations of its large energy companies in recent years. The outgoing Commission has taken strong action against German and French energy companies for abuse of their dominant position in the market.

Italy also got the portfolio it was seeking, industry and enterprise policy, for Antonio Tajani, though the portfolio is widely seen as being less powerful than the transport dossier for which Tajani has been responsible to date.

Spain wanted to keep its commissioner, Joaquín Alumnia, in charge of economic and monetary affairs. It failed to do so, as Barroso gave all returning commissioners new portfolios. However, the competition post that Almunia has been given is one of the most powerful in the Commission. Almunia will also be a senior vice-president, second in line to stand in for Barroso when he cannot attend meetings, behind Luxembourg’s Viviane Reding.

Poland secured the post it had been seeking for its commissioner, Janusz Lewandowski – that of commissioner for budgets.

Fact File

Reactions to the appointments

Martin Schulz, leader of the Socialists and Democrats group in the European Parliament, on the vice-presidencies:
“It gives me satisfaction to note that we will have more vice-presidencies than any other political family. We will now set about our preparations for the parliamentary hearings of the Commission nominees. These hearings will be serious tests of the nominees and their ambitions for Europe, but we will not pre-judge their outcome.”

Joseph Daul, leader of the European People’s Party in the European Parliament, on the commissioner for climate action:
“I welcome in particular the appointment of Connie Hedegaard to the climate-change portfolio. This appointment can only increase the chances of success at the [UN’s] Copenhagen climate-change conference [in December].”

Alexander Graf Lambsdorff, leader of the German liberal MEPs, on the allocation of the portfolios of economic and monetary affairs, environment, transport, trade, research and innovation and the digital agenda to liberal commissioners:
“All these fields are decisive for the economic and ecological success of Europe at the start of the 21st century”. He also welcomed the appointment of the Swedish liberal Cecilia Malmström as commissioner for home affairs, saying she would strengthen the protection of fundamental rights.

Claude Turmes, a Green MEP from Luxembourg, on Günther Oettinger as commissioner for energy:
“Oettinger is known for his close ties to EnBW [one of the largest German energy firms based in Baden-Württemberg, Oettinger’s home state], a company linked to EdF [the French energy giant]. I can only hope that corporate and pro-nuclear interest will not take over EU energy policy.”

Nicole Stefan, leader of Romanian agricultural pressure groups, on the new commissioner for agriculture:
“The nomination of [Dacian] Cioloş as the European commissioner for agriculture is the only good thing to have happened to Romanian agriculture in the past 20 years. Cioloş is a very good specialist in European agriculture and he is ready for the reforms that the agricultural sector will need to undergo. As far as the budget is concerned, he can strike a balance between countries with a well-developed agricultural sector, like France, and new members states with a troubled agricultural sector. The budget for the Common Agricultural Policy is going to be a tough fight and we hope that Cioloş will keep the subsidies for farmers up.”

Franziska Katharina Brantner, a German Green MEP, on changes related to foreign affairs:
“The division of portfolios in the external action area is surprising and contradicts the creation of a coherent European External Action Service. Next to the development commissioner, Andris Piebalgs, Barroso created the new portfolio of ‘international co-operation, humanitarian aid and crisis response’ (Rumiana Zheleva). The question arises whether crisis response should not instead be part of the new External Action Service, in order to create a strengthened and more coherent EU response to crises worldwide. Furthermore, what exactly is the difference between international co-operation and the objective of the external action service? Finally, why does the enlargement portfolio (Štefan Füle) also include Neighbourhood Policy? Neighbourhood policy, so far part of DG Relex, was intended to become part of the External Action Service. In the end, Barroso has divided up the current DG Relex into new portfolios. Instead of handing this directorate-general over to the new External Action Service for a more effective foreign policy, Barroso will contribute to double or even triple structures in the external action area.”

Daniel Caspary, a German Liberal MEP, on the new trade commissioner:
“I think a former MEP, with the experience that [Karel] De Gucht has, is a very good choice [for the trade portfolio]. He has over 14 years’ experience in the European Parliament and he should be able to manage very well. He has already been actively involved in a field very close to foreign trade and that should gear him up with the skills he’ll need as a negotiator.”

Natalia Alonso, acting director of the Amnesty International EU office, on the appointments of Cecilia Malmström as commissioner for home affairs and Viviane Reding as commissioner for justice, fundamental rights and citizenship:
“[Viviane] Reding will focus more on fighting against discrimination and that will be a big part of the next EU agenda. Cecilia [Malmström] has extremely good knowledge about migration and she is very able to put her point across. Reding and Malmström will have to work closely together, because the huge issue of human rights falls between both of them, and there needs to be co-operation between the external and the internal side, so the two will also have to co-operate with Ashton. We need to see these three women working very closely together.”

Innocenzo Genna, chairman of the European Competitive Telecoms Association (ECTA), on Neelie Kroes as commissioner for the digital agenda: “Commissioner Kroes’ challenge will be to enforce the sectoral rules for telecoms at a time where protectionism is rife and incumbents are strengthening their market positions at the expense of fair competition and consumers. Defending open market principles in the face of very heavy pressure to relax competition rules as aging networks are replaced with modern fibre (next-generation access) will be a particular challenge. Given her track record of tough action against abuses by dominant firms, we trust she will have the determination to do the job thoroughly and welcome her appointment.”

Monique Goyens, director-general of BEUC, the European consumers’ organisation, on combining consumer affairs with health policy:
“It is a good fit. It is much better than if it was combined with the internal market. We welcome that fact that cosmetics and pharmaceuticals are being
transferred from DG Enterprise to DG Sanco (the Commission’s health
and consumer affairs department)”.

The UK’s post in the commission was decided last week when Catherine Ashton was appointed high representative. The position also gives her the status of vice-president of the Commission. It is the second most prominent position created by the Treaty of Lisbon and merges the posts of commissioner for external relations, currently held by Benita Ferrero-Waldner, and of high representative for common foreign and security policy, a position held by Javier Solana.

Announcing his choices, Barroso said: “I am confident that I have assigned the right jobs to the right people. There are many requests, but these are my choices alone.”

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“I do not give portfolios to countries, I attribute portfolios to individuals,” he said. “I want to underline this: I do not give portfolios to France, Germany” or other member states.