by Magnus Lund Nielsen
Instead of asking member states to reconsider their commissioner picks, von der Leyen is putting commissioners up for a vote in the European Parliament for lawmakers to separate the wheat from the chaff.
Von der Leyen’s calls for gender parity in her new team have fallen on deaf ears, as only seven out of 27 member states have proposed women candidates at the time of writing.
Although some experts had suggested that she reset the commissioner appointment process and asked member states to come up with other (female) names, the Commission President looks determined to play the hand she has been dealt.
Keeping the list as it is still leaves her with the opportunity to tailor the commissioner portfolio and appoint (executive) vice-presidents to meet the wishes of individual member states – and national party delegations in the European Parliament.
A respectable portfolio for the still unnamed Italian commissioner candidate might satisfy the twenty-four members of the European Parliament (MEPs) of Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s, Fratelli d’Italia, as well as other delegations of the rightwing group European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR).
As parliamentary sources have already confided in Euractiv, the current makeup is bound for a rough time during parliamentary scrutiny. Centrist forces are taking issue with the lack of gender balance.
Von der Leyen might have good reasons to stay the course, nonetheless. Although questionable, moving forward with the team of commissioner-designates that member states have given her might play into her hands.
In 2019, after Parliament dumped the initial French candidate for commissioner, Sylvie Goulard, the blame for her failure was put on French President Macron rather than Goulard’s prospective boss, Ursula von der Leyen.
If MEPs trash several of the incoming commissioners, she can pass the blame back to the countries that nominated them. Since her re-election in June, von der Leyen has been adamant in her calls on member states to provide her with a gender-balance, and qualified slate of commissioners.
Giving parliamentarians a chance to play hardball might play out well for von der Leyen in the long run. As the junior partner in the EU legislative process, the lower chamber has historically been prone to complexities concerning its role.
But, through the hearing process, the Parliament plays a key role and has a rare degree of leverage over the political make-up of the new Commission. New and veteran MEPs are rubbing their hands with the prospect of sending a signal to the rest of the EU system that power lies equally in Parliament, as much as in the Commission and Council.
By pushing the responsibility back onto member states and allowing MEPs to flex their influence, she could emerge with a stronger mandate, not only for herself but also for the Parliament, as well.
This strategy could ultimately reinforce the balance of power within the EU institutions, making it clear that while the Commission proposes, it is the MEPs that dispose.
*first published in: Euractiv.com
By: N. Peter Kramer
