So far, just over half have announced their candidates. Each member state sends one commissioner to Brussels to head up a different department (or Directorate General as they are known in Brussels).
All 28 jobs will have a vital role in EU politics to 2019, overseeing their department’s policy agenda.
Farmers are most affected by the work of DG Agriculture, but DG Environment, DG Trade, DG Health and Consumer Affairs, and DG Internal Market also have a say on what happens on-farm.
What happens next?
Each country puts forward a candidate and, behind closed doors, indicates which policy area or Directorate General they would like their man (or woman) to be in charge of.
That’s when the horse trading begins! It’s the responsibility of the President of the European Commission, the newly appointed Jean-Claude Juncker, to share out departments among candidates. The “big” member states like Germany, France, UK and Italy typically want the DGs with the biggest kudos, for example foreign affairs, trade, competition, internal market, energy, economic and financial affairs.
Heads of EU governments will meet in Brussels on 30 August to hammer out a deal on who will take which job. But with 28 capital cities making demands, it’s not an easy task to keep everyone happy. We know that Mr Juncker is keen that there is gender balance, although 16 of the 18 names in the frame are male. Could this mean that some of those already nominated are ditched in favour of more females?
There’s more…
Once all 28 names are in and the portfolios are assigned that’s still not the end of it. All 28 nominees have to march en masse to the European Parliament to be “interviewed” for their respective positions. The Parliament will hold hearings throughout September and possibly into October to quiz the candidates on their EU knowledge, their European “commitment” and their personal independence.
Nominees will also be assessed on their knowledge of the prospective portfolio and their communication skills. Each is invited to a three hour public hearing where they will be grilled by MEPs. In the past some of the nominees have fallen by the wayside and it is quite realistic that the Parliament will yield its power once again throwing out any candidates it deems “unsuitable”.
Only once the Parliament is content with all 28 candidates will it vote to approve the new European Commission 2014-2019. In theory the new term of office starts on 1 November 2014. But whether things go smoothly and according to planned timetable is yet to be seen…
Who’s in the frame for DG Agri?
It’s very difficult to speculate which country will get what DG.
Unfortunately, DG Agriculture is no longer viewed as one of the “prized”positions and few member states actively seek it out as their first choice. The current Commissioner for Agriculture, Dacian Ciolos is from Romania and has been nominated once again by his country for the next five years, but only if he gets the portfolio Romania seeks.
Mr Ciolos is understood to be quite happy to stay at the top of DG Agriculture, but there have been murmurings of disquiet from some of the leading agriculture MEPs to his potential re-appointment. Other names in the mix are Phil Hogan from Ireland and Italy’s Paolo de Castro – most recently Chairman of the Agriculture Committee in the European Parliament. Rome has yet to confirm who it will nominate and it may feel that agriculture isn’t important enough for it. Italy had attempted to secure the prized foreign policy department but its early attempts failed and has been told to re-assess.
Who are we putting up?
The UK has nominated Lord Hill as its candidate. Lord Hill was previously the leader of the House of Lords and gained European experience when he worked for John Major during the 1990s. He is known as a man who rolls up his sleeves and gets on with the job at hand. He is neither too Eurosceptic, or too Europhile. He should therefore pass muster of both the Conservative party and the hearings of the European Parliament, but is unlikely to gain a significant seat in the new Commission.
The names in the frame:
Country | Commissioner candidate |
Austria | Johannes Hahn (Regional policy commissioner) |
Croatia | Neven Mimica (Consumer protection commissioner) |
Czech Republic | Vera Jourova (Regional Development Minister)
|
Estonia | Andrus Ansip (Former Prime Minister) |
Finland | Jyrki Katainen (Former Prime Minister) |
France | Pierre Moscovici (Former Finance Minister) |
Germany | Gunther Oettinger (Energy Commissioner) |
Greece | Dimitris Avramopoulos (Defence minister) |
Hungary | Tibor Navracsics (Foreign Minister) |
Ireland | Phil Hogan (Former Environnent Minister) |
Latvia | Valdis Dombrovskis (Former Prime Minister) |
Lithuania | Vytenis Andriukaitis (Health minister) |
Luxembourg | Jean-Claude Juncker (Former Prime Minister) |
Malta | Karmenu Vella (Former Transport Minister) |
Romania | Dacian Ciolos |
Slovakia | Maros Sefcovic (Administration Commissioner) |
Sweden | Cecilia Malmstrom (Home Affairs Commissioner) |
UK | Jonathan Hill (former Leader House of Lords) |
Cyprus | Christios Stylianides (MEP) |
Italy | Federica Mogherini (Foreign Minister) |
Spain | Miguel Arias Canete (MEP) or Luis de Guindos (Economy Minister) |
Bulgaria | Kristalina Georgieva (International Co-operation Commissioner) Kristian Vigenin (Foreign Minister) |
The Netherlands | Jeroen Dijsselbloem (Finance Minister) Frans Timmermans (Foreign Minister) Lilianne Ploumen (Trade Minister) |
Poland | Radoslaw Sikorski (European Affairs Minister) Danuta Hubner (MEP) |
Belgium | Marrianne Thyssen (MEP) Karel De Gucht (Trade Commissioner) Didier Reynders (Foreign Minister) Joelle Milquet (Interior and Equality Minister) |
Denmark | Margrethe Vestager (Economic Minister) Christine Antorini (Education Minister) Karen Angelo Haekkerup (Justice Minister) Morten Bodskov (Former Justice Minister) Mette Gjerskov (S&D Leader in Danish Parliament) |
Portugal | Maria Da Graca Carvalho (Former MEP) Maria Joao Rodrigues (Former Employment Minister) |
Slovenia | Janez Potocnik (Envi Commissioner) Alenka Bratusek (Former Prime Minister) Igor Luksic (Former President of S&D) |