By awarding him the powerful executive vice-presidency of Competition and Ecological Transition, Ursula von der Leyen converts to Teresa Ribera in one of the heavyweights of her new government team for her second term at the head of the European Commission. Her appointment is a repayment by the German to the European Socialists and the Greens for having supported her re-election as president in the European Parliament.
Despite becoming von der Leyen’s de facto number two, Ribera will have very limited room for manoeuvre in the new EU executive. The socialists find themselves in a situation of absolute minority in a college with a greater weight on the right: 15 commissioners from the European People’s Party (including the president), against 5 liberals, 4 socialists and 2 representatives of the radical right. In 2019, there was a tie of 9 between the populars and the socialists. The reversal responds to the political shift in the member states, which are the ones that designate the candidates.
The German has partly corrected this imbalance when appointing the 6 executive vice-presidents who make up the top of her government: 2 socialists, two liberals, 1 from the EPP and 1 from the radical right. Even so, part of Teresa Ribera’s competences in ecological transition overlap with those of the French vice president, the liberal Stéphane Séjournéappointed Executive Vice-President for Prosperity and Industrial Strategy. The two will have to work hand in hand on the new Clean Industrial Pact, Von der Leyen’s top priority in the first 100 days of her mandate.
[Von der Leyen nombra a Teresa Ribera vicepresidenta ejecutiva de Competencia y Transición Ecológica]
In the weeks leading up to the portfolio distribution, it was leaked that Von der Leyen wanted to give Ribera the coveted Competition portfolio to remove her from the Ecological Transition. The reason given was that The EPP considered it too radical for this portfolio at a time when farmers’ protests against the EU’s climate agenda, which has been turned into their bête noire by radical right-wing Eurosceptic forces, are growing.
In the end, Von der Leyen has left the Clean, Fair and Competitive Transition in the hands of the Spaniard. But she places below her a man of her absolute confidence, the Dutchman Wopke Hoekstra (EPP), who will be Commissioner for Climate, Net Zero Emissions and Clean Growth. While Ribera will be her boss as Executive Vice-President, Hoekstra will have direct control over the Directorate-General for Climate Action, which is the one that in practice develops, executes and manages legislative action.
The European People’s Party has also reserved the posts of Agriculture Commissioner (for the Luxembourger Christophe Hansen) and Fishing (for the Cypriot Costas Kadis). The popular Swedish Jessika Roswall will be the new Commissioner for the Environment. The Socialists, however, have retained the Energy portfolio, which for the first time is combined with Housing. It will be occupied by Dane Dan Jorgensen, a potential ally of Ribera.
The president herself has pointed out in a press conference that the fight against climate change It was the “dominant” policy during his first term at the head of the Community Executive, but from now on it will become more of a “background” for all actions.
In addition to the Clean Industrial Pact, Von der Leyen has tasked Ribera with overseeing the implementation of the emissions reduction targets, work to reduce energy prices and ensure that fiscal measures in this area serve to promote decarbonisation and a just transition.
The third vice president admits that will have to negotiate with colleagues from other political families to push forward their initiatives. “It is essential to count on many of the portfolios that are represented: energy, industry, trade, climate, infrastructure,” stressed Ribera upon learning of the portfolio assigned to him by Von der Leyen. In his opinion, his anti-nuclear position should not hinder his work in Brussels, since the definition of the energy basket is a national competence of each country.
Ribera will have free rein in matters of Competitionwhich has direct powers to sanction multinationals for monopolistic abuses or to authorise or prohibit mergers. The current incumbent, Danish liberal Margrethe Vestager, has earned a reputation as a scourge of US tech giants, with record fines against Apple and Google. Before her, the socialist Joaquín Almunia held the portfolio between 2010 and 2014.
The third vice president assures that His intention is to continue along the same lines as Vestager“I have a lot to learn from her work over the past 10 years. I am in contact with her, we know each other and we appreciate each other. And I would like to be able to begin this stage, which is new by definition, but fortunately counting on the great legacy left by Commissioner Vestager,” explained Ribera.
In his recent report on the European economy, former President of the European Central Bank (ECB), Mario Draghirecommends making the rules more flexible to facilitate the emergence of ‘European champions’ that can compete on a global scale. For her part, Von der Leyen asks him to “modernise competition policy” and “develop a new framework for state aid” that will accelerate the deployment of renewables, industrial decarbonisation and clean technologies.
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