In his efforts to put together the pieces of the new Commission’s sudoku, Ursula von der Leyen He is considering a very surprising move. The president, re-elected in July for a second term, is considering giving Teresa Ribera the competition portfolio. in order to distance it from the Ecological Transitionwhich is the third vice-president’s desired destination during her trip to Brussels, according to the newspaper Financial Time.
The aim of this completely unexpected exchange would be that the European People’s Party (EPP) takes control of the European Green DealThe popular people do not want to leave the ecological transition in the hands of Ribera. They consider it as a “climate activist” whose management could aggravate the rejection that these policies generate among farmers and a large number of their voters, estimates the FTThe European Green Deal has become one of the bêtes noires of all the far-right forces in the EU. With Ribera in this portfolio, the EPP, the Liberals and Giorgia Meloni’s group could vote against the College of Commissioners, parliamentary sources explain.
In exchange for abandoning the ecological transition, Ribera would take over one of the most coveted portfolios in Brussels, that of Competition, which has direct powers to sanction monopolistic abuses by large platforms, veto mergers and authorize or not public aid to companies. He would thus follow in the footsteps of his party colleague Joaquín Almunia.who was Vice-President of the Commission and responsible for competition between 2010 and 2014 with José Manuel Durao Barroso.
[Von der Leyen mantiene la presión para una Comisión paritaria: “Si no se pide, no se consigue”]
The current incumbent, the Danish liberal Margrethe Vestagerhas earned a reputation as the relentless scourge of American technology companies. According to the FTRibera’s arrival at the Competition would result in a relaxation of competition rules facilitate the creation of European champions or more flexibility for public aid to businesses.
In any case, the third vice-president has always defended what she wanted in the new Commission. a portfolio that matches your area of expertisethat is, all policies related to climate change and energy. In fact, all the pools published so far placed it as Executive Vice President in charge of Ecological, Social and Digital TransitionOne of the latest leaks has assigned the competition portfolio to the Austrian Magnus Brunner, former finance minister.
Both the Community Executive and the government of Pedro Sánchez have avoided confirming this information. “What I have seen is that there have been different pools, different assessments or suggestions that have appeared in the newspapers, but I think in these moments you have to relax.“, Ribera herself told the press last Wednesday in Brussels, after meeting face to face with Von der Leyen.
If the change of parts is confirmed, Ribera will have to take a crash course in competition policy, area in which there is no evidence that she is an expertThe third vice-president is due to face the European Parliament’s scrutiny at a hearing in October and the lack of sufficient knowledge about her portfolio is one of the main factors that could lead the Parliament to reject her.
The other problem that could hinder this exchange is the balance of power that allowed Von der Leyen’s re-election in July. The president won the support of a broad coalition of popular, socialist and liberal parties, to which the Greens joined at the last minute. The Greens have always supported Ribera as vice-president of the ecological transition because they see it as a guarantee that there will be no backtracking on climate policies. If Von der Leyen changes portfolio, she could lose support when it comes time to ratify the College of Commissioners.
The President of the Commission seems to be trying every possible combination to unite her team. A very complex task because she must find portfolios for 26 commissioners (one per Member State) and respect all geographical, political family and gender balances. Ribera is the main representative of the European socialists in the Community Executive. and that is why, from the beginning, it was clear that he would have an important vice-presidency.
Von der Leyen was summoned by the European Parliament Wednesday, September 11 at 8:00 a.m. to inform you about the configuration of your new equipment. It is at this time that the president is expected to announce the distribution of portfolios and therefore Ribera’s position, although her spokesperson has suggested that this could be delayed.
