Who are the new European commissioners announced by Ursula von der Leyen

The President of the European Commission has announced the names of the commissioners for the 2024-2029 mandate.The approval of the European Parliament is now needed.

• The list of commissioners is made up of 26 people, to which Ursula von der Leyen is added as the 27th
• As High Representative for Foreign and Security Policy there is the name of Kaja Kallas, very hostile to Russia.
• The Dutchman Wopke Hoekstra, who worked in the fossil fuel industry, deals with the climate.

The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, announced the new team in front of the European Parliament commissioners.The list consists of 26 people, to whom is added as the 27th, von der Leyen as president.Each member country of the European Union must in fact appoint a commissioner, so as to have fair representation.Now the 26 commissioners and the commissioners appointed by von der Leyen, sixteen men and ten women, will have to be confirmed by the European Parliament.

Who is in the new Commission?

There list of commissioners for the 2024-2029 mandate is made up of sixteen men and 10 women, in addition to president Ursula von der Leyen.

Here are the names:

• Teresa Ribera (Spain):executive vice president for the Clean, Just and Competitive Transition
• Henna Virkkunen (Finland):Executive Vice President for Technology Sovereignty, Security and Democracy
• Stéphane Séjourné (France):executive vice president for Prosperity and Industrial Strategy
• Roxana Minzatu (Romania):executive vice president of People, Skills and Readiness
• Raffaele Fitto (Italy):Executive Vice President for Cohesion and Reform
• Kaja Kallas (Estonia):High Representative for Foreign and Security Policy
• Magnus Brunner (Austria):Home affairs and migration
• Hadja Lahbib (Belgium):Preparedness, crisis management, equality
• Jessika Roswall (Sweden):Environment, water resilience and competitive circular economy
• Wopke Hoekstra (Netherlands):Climate, clean growth and net-zero objectives
• Costas Kadis (Cyprus):Fishing and oceans
• Jozef Sikela (Czech Republic):International partnerships
• Dan Jorgensen (Denmark):Energy and housing
• Apostolos Tzitzikostas (Greece):Sustainable transport and tourism
• Olivér Várhelyi (Hungary):Animal health and welfare
• Michael McGrath (Ireland):Democracy, justice and rule of law
• Valdis Dombrovskis (Latvia):Economy and productivity, implementation and simplification
• Andrius Kubilius (Lithuania):Defense and space
• Christophe Hansen (Luxembourg):Agriculture and food
• Glenn Micallef (Malta):Intergenerational equity, youth, culture and sport
• Dubravka Šuica (Croatia):Mediterranean
• Piotr Serafin (Poland):Budget, anti-fraud, public administrations
• Maria Luis Albuquerque (Portugal):Financial services
• Ekaterina Zaharieva (Bulgaria):Startups, research and innovation
• Maroš Šefcovic (Slovakia):Trade and economic security, interinstitutional relations and transparency
• Marta Kos (Slovenia):Enlargement

Who will deal with foreign affairs, climate and environment

For one of the most important positions in the European Commission, that of High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, the name of was indicated Kaja Kallas, from Estonia.Premier in the Baltic country, Kallas has always had a very tough position towards Russia, supporting more economic and military efforts to support Ukraine.

The name indicated for the climate is that of Wopke Hoekstra, who in the past held the positions of Finance Minister, Foreign Minister and Deputy Prime Minister in the Netherlands.Hoekstra has a background in the fossil world, having worked for Shell, and was involved in the Pandora papers scandal.His name had already been mentioned last year after the void created by the resignation of Frans Timmermans and the choice of von der Leyen had created a lot of discontent.Despite this, for one of the key positions of the European Commission 2024-2029, that of climate precisely, it was decided to move forward with Hoekstra.

Instead, the environment was chosen Jessika Roswall, from Sweden.He comes from the liberal-conservative Moderate party, which he has represented in the national parliament since 2010.In recent years she has worked in the Tax Committee, the Civil Affairs Committee and was a member of the Transparency Board of the Swedish Consumer Agency.Before being elected to the European Commission in the elections last June, she held the position of Minister of EU Affairs.For Italy the name of was indicated Raffaele Fitto to the Executive Vice Presidency for Cohesion and Reform.

The ball passes to the European Parliament

The College of European Commissioners presented by Ursula von der Leyen will have a mandate from 2024 to 2029, when the new European elections will take place.The Commission is the only European institution with the power to legislative initiative:this means that it proposes regulatory acts which are then approved by the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union.Commissioners play a role almost similar to that of ministers in national governments and each member country of the European Union has the name of a commissioner, who are therefore 27, including the presidency.

The list presented by Ursula von der Leyen will be put to the vote in the coming weeks European Parliament.First the individual commissioner candidates will participate in auditions in front of the MEPs, where they will have to demonstrate competence in the sector to which they have been assigned.