The leadership of the next European Commission is beginning to take shape. The countdown has begun for the head of the EU executive, Ursula von der Leyen, to form a new college of commissioners, and gender parity is the main issue. Faced with this situation, Germany has once again asked the Member States to present more women as candidates. A mandate that Spain has already fulfilled with the appointment of the Minister for Ecological Transition, Teresa Ribera. While deciding on her portfolio, the third vice-president sets the energy transition and the mobilization of private investments as priorities of the EU industrial strategy for the next five years.
The series of talks between the President of the European Commission and the Commissioners designated by the Member States has already begun. Ribera explained to the Brussels press last week that he had already met the German.“I spoke with the president, as did almost all my colleagues, and we are waiting.”Brief and careful in details, she expressed the hope that “in a week, the challenges and responsibilities entrusted to me can be discussed.”
One of the biggest unknowns is the responsibilities that Ribera will assume as Commissioner. In the pools, there were rumours that he would take on the Climate and Environment portfolio, there were also rumours that he would not hold any positions in Energy and, at the same time, the latest information published by a German newspaper this week gave him the vice-presidency of Ecological, social and digital transition of the European Commission.
However, the latest updates point to another segment. Von der Leyen is considering the possibility of appointing Spain’s Commissioner-designate, Teresa Ribera, to the Competition portfolio, one of the most powerful in the EU, instead of the Climate and Environment portfolio. As reported by Financial TimeThe current third vice-president and Minister for Ecological Transition could end up in a different position than originally planned. When the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, appointed Ribera as Spanish Commissioner, it was hoped that she would keep a portfolio similar to the one she currently holds in the national executive, although at first the responsibilities of this new police station were not clear. would have. The main thing is that the European People’s Party, to which Von der Leyen belongs, would like to keep this department under its control. In part, to be able to pressure conservative MEPs to approve measures against climate change, after the agrarian protests that have taken place in European countries such as the Netherlands.
Asked about this, Ribera simply replied that she had seen that there were different “suggestions, but I think that at this moment we have to relax. (Von der Leyen) She is finishing organizing things and seeing what the profile of each of them is, who we are and how different political families and different priorities fit together.
Now the President of the European Commission “must finish calibrating how to organize a collegiate team that must function well with the great challenges that she has highlighted in the political guidelines of the European Parliament. such a critical moment for Europe and it seems to me that with a little patience we will resolve it,” declared the Minister for Ecological Transition in Brussels.
A clean and industrial Europe
Ribera’s ideas were taken up in the forum organized by the think tank Bruegel in the Belgian capital. The decarbonization of the economy, initiated during the previous legislative cycle under the impetus of the European Green Deal, will continue in the years to come. The minister pleaded for priorities How to develop a “clean and industrial” Europefor the development of energy storage systems, electricity distribution networks and interconnections between Member States.
“Europe is the part of the world with the most modern electricity distribution networks, but we need to invest more. “We need to double energy production capacity in the short term” stipulated the one who will be European Commissioner. For this, he considers that it is necessary to speed up the bureaucratic aspects of the procedures and to take into account alternative financial instruments.
The Minister of Ecological Transition went further by explaining the importance of creating effective interconnections within the island, as they help to ensure that energy security than war in Ukraine left in the air. On this path, challenges will arise with the production plants offshore, which present many technical and financial challenges and require efficient energy distribution networks to address security concerns. “Investing in the grid transition is not an expense, it is an investment,” said the third vice president.
Ribera believes that this deployment of networks must have the participation of investors, and for this there must be a “correct” signal to the private sector to reduce the risk of these investments. All this while considering that electricity must continue to be affordable for consumers, that is, they do not have to bear the costs.
“If we hope that all these investments will bear fruit in three years, consumers will not be able to pay for them. “This will ruin the economy and families.”said the minister. This is why he advocated stimulating the appetite for investment and considering all these initiatives as “a good excuse to be more European”.
It is, according to Ribera, about how to build strategic autonomy for Europe.“How can we create infrastructure that goes beyond national interests?” for which it is necessary to connect the different parts of the EU, to take into account the different sources of income dedicated to the networks and to design an energy transition attractive to investors. All this, combining public and private resources.
Another important point will be raw materials and access to crucial elements for the industry such as electronic chips. The Minister of Ecological Transition has argued for Europe can procure this equipment or create an infrastructure to manufacture it on community land. “This represents a challenge for the agenda of the next European Commission.”
