France And Britain Get Big Economic Portfolios In New EC

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european commission
European Commission

France and Britain have been offered big economic portfolios in the new European Commission, presented on Wednesday by president-elect Jean-Claude Juncker, despite French problems complying with EU budget targets and Britain’s battle with euroscepticism.

european commission
european commission

Former French finance minister Pierre Moscovici will handle economic and financial affairs, while Jonathan Hill, the former leader of Britain’s House of Lords, will be responsible for financial stability.

“I have given portfolios to people – not to countries … This is my winning team,” Juncker said in a statement unveiling his proposed line-up for the next commission, which is due to take up its work on November 1.

The European Union’s executive proposes laws and plays a leading role in ensuring they are implemented.

Juncker’s announcement came hours after French Finance Minister Michel Sapin said his country would need an extra two years to get its budget deficit within an EU limit of 3 per cent of gross domestic product.

Juncker expressed hope that Moscovici’s appointment would help France “better understand the source, the justification and the need for [fiscal] consolidation and growth that we must put in place.”

Juncker said commissioners would have a role in informing citizens about the EU, which was undergoing a “crisis of explanation.”

Scepticism is particularly high in Britain, where Prime Minister David Cameron has pledged to negotiate a looser relationship with Brussels and hold a referendum on membership in 2017 if his Conservatives win next year’s election.

“Maybe our British friends will understand better the politics of the commission if it is explained in its most elegant form, the language of Shakespeare,” Juncker quipped. He has pledged to work on keeping Britain in the EU.

Juncker, a former Luxembourg prime minister, said his 28-strong team – one commissioner for each member state – “will put Europe back on the path to jobs and growth.”

The line-up must now be approved by the European Parliament and member states. There have been reservations over some of the nominations, but the list does meet demands to include as many women as the last commission.

“I stand here with nine female candidates,” Juncker said, adding, “This is not really an advance as far as gender equality is concerned, but it is at least not a step back.”

The line-up features seven vice-presidents who will “coordinate” the work of other commissioners, Juncker said, adding that teams could change “according to need.”

Former Finnish prime minister Jyrki Katainen will be the vice-president responsible for jobs, growth, investment and competitiveness.

His team will include Hill; Moscovici, who will also handle taxation and customs; Belgium’s Marianne Thyssen, who will handle employment and social affairs; and Poland’s Elzbieta Bienkowska, who will be in charge of internal market and industry.

Moscovici and Hill will also both belong to another team overseen by former Latvian prime minister Valdis Dombrovskis, who will be vice-president for the euro and social dialogue.

Juncker’s right-hand man will be the Netherlands’ current foreign minister, Frans Timmermans, who as first vice-president will be in charge of better regulation, among other things.

The other vice-presidents will be Bulgaria’s Kristalina Georgieva, Slovenia’s Alenka Bratusek and Italy’s Federica Mogherini, who is set to be the EU’s next foreign policy chief.

Juncker said the vice-presidents will act as “filters,” determining which issues make it onto the commission’s agenda. But he insisted there will be “no first or second-class commissioners.”

“There are team leaders and team players. They will work together in a spirit of collegiality and mutual dependence,” Juncker said.

The commissioner stemming from the EU’s economic powerhouse Germany, Guenther Oettinger, will be in charge of the digital economy and society, in what EU lawmaker Alexander Graf Lambsdorff called a “resounding slap” for Berlin.

Several other portfolios also raised concern, with environmental groups expressing regret in particular at Juncker’s decision to combine energy and climate policy.

“There is a real danger that by merging these two departments, climate concerns will be side-lined by energy issues,” said Friends of the Earth Europe director Magda Stoczkiewicz.

But Juncker defended his choices.

“What I present to you today is a political, dynamic and effective European Commission, geared to give Europe its new start,” Juncker said.
GNA

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