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Some are talking about new commissioners or executive vice presidents, others are talking about cars. Fleet limits are one topic, while punitive tariffs on Chinese EVs are another hotly debated issue in the automotive industry.
Valdis Dombrovskis, the current Vice-President of the Commission and Trade Commissioner, met with the CEOs of automotive companies on Wednesday afternoon. What exactly the participants discussed was initially not made public.
Today, Dombrovskis is meeting the head of the Chinese Ministry of Commerce, Wang Wentao. The two are discussing the Commission’s anti-subsidy investigation into electric vehicles from China. China calls the planned measure by the Brussels authority protectionism. The Union calls it fair compensation for unfair subsidies. But nothing has been decided yet, which is why Wentao is making the trip.
I wish you an exciting Thursday.
EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has put together a promising team of Commissioners to continue the climate policy agenda over the next five years. Spain’s Teresa Ribera will be the new Commissioner for Competition. What does not initially sound like a climate portfolio actually involves the task of aligning the European Union’s state aid law with the EU’s climate targets – specifically, the expansion of renewables and industrial decarbonization.
According to a senior Commission official, Ribera’s competitive portfolio is the key to achieving the 2030 climate targets. The five-year mandate of this Commission ends shortly before the greenhouse gas reduction target of 55 percent compared to 1990 must be achieved. Consequently, the new Commission is “fully focussed” on the EU’s 2030 climate target, the official added.
The plan is to be brought to life with a Green Deal 2.0 named “Clean Industrial Deal.”
The ambitious and experienced climate politician Ribera and the French liberal industrial commissioner Stéphane Séjourné will oversee it. This shows that there is no room for regression, but rather the intention to step up the ambition for more climate action in industrial and economic policy, says Chiara Martinelli, Director of Climate Action Network Europe (CAN). Europe must undoubtedly continue to be a climate champion and achieve net-zero emissions by 2050, but also remain competitive along the way – that is the signal that von der Leyen sent out on Tuesday.
Reporting to Ribera will be Climate Commissioner Wopke Hoekstra, Energy Commissioner Dan Jørgensen and Environment Commissioner Jessika Roswall. Hoekstra and Jørgensen are also experienced climate politicians – one as current Climate Commissioner, the other as former Energy and Environment Minister in Denmark.
Von der Leyen’s mandate to combine climate action with industrial and economic policy is also reflected here in the allocation of tasks. The legislative work for the “Clean Industrial Deal” comes from the Directorates-General for Climate Action (DG CLIMA) and Internal Market and Industry (DG GROW). This means that Hoekstra and Séjourné are tasked with jointly driving forward industrial decarbonization, the ramp-up of clean technologies and investment incentives.
Hoekstra’s nomination also ensures continuity. As he did last year in Dubai, he will also lead the international climate negotiations at COP29 in Baku this November. If Hoekstra’s portfolio had changed, the EU would have appeared headless, given Hungary’s unambitious climate policy presidency in Baku. Von der Leyen has found an elegant and satisfactory solution for both Hoekstra and the Dutch government.
He and his subordinate DG CLIMA are also responsible for drafting the legislative package for the EU’s 2040 climate target, whose reduction target of 90 percent Hoekstra himself presented back in February. Moreover, he has been assigned the tax portfolio – the economic task the Netherlands had hoped for. Among other things, he will work on aligning value-added taxes with environmental criteria. Hoekstra could also drive the introduction of climate taxes and end environmentally harmful subsidies and tax privileges. For example, he could now tackle the issue of the kerosene tax, which was announced a year ago.
Danish national Jørgensen also has a relevant climate profile, but will now be Energy Commissioner. The economic aspects of his portfolio are obvious: Low energy prices are essential for economic recovery. However, von der Leyen insists that energy sources must become cleaner. According to the Commission President, small modular nuclear power plants and CO2 capture technologies, which Jørgensen is supposed to help ramp up, will also help.
Jørgensen is a solid choice as Energy Commissioner, says Linda Kalcher, Director of the Brussels-based think tank Strategic Perspectives. “I expect him to be immune to greenwashing, that blue hydrogen or various carbon capture technologies will solve all our problems of tomorrow, and that he will be pragmatic about nuclear energy.”
Although Environment Commissioner-designate Jessika Roswall has no experience in her new area of responsibility, she is a clever political compromise. The EPP party family had recently focussed its criticism primarily on nature conservation and is now getting a responsible Commissioner from its own ranks.
Von der Leyen will certainly not give her free rein. Her department will have to make a significant contribution to the planned European climate adaptation plan and revise the controversial EU chemicals regulation REACH, which some in the EPP will not be happy about and is likely to greatly impact the chemical industry.
She will have an easier time selling environmental protection in her party family than her Green predecessor, Virginijus Sinkevičius. But the Environment Committee could make life difficult for her. Sweden voted against the Nature Restoration Law and did not support the anti-deforestation regulation, liberal environmental politician Pascal Canfin posted on X. Commissioners usually jointly represent Commission proposals. Now, Canfin suggests, there is a risk that Roswall will go against the Commission’s line. “We will have to make sure she acts as true EU commissioner.”
In addition, Séjourné has been tasked with proposing an “Industrial Decarbonization Accelerator Act” to promote “European lead markets for the development, production and diffusion in industry of clean tech” and accelerating planning, tendering and approval procedures, especially for energy-intensive industries. The European Commission has thus taken up an idea that German Economy Minister Robert Habeck had previously put forward with his concept for green lead markets.
At a panel discussion on Wednesday, Director-General Kerstin Jorna (DG GROW) and Director-General Kurt Vandenberghe (DG CLIMA) gave an initial insight into the new Commission’s industrial strategy: “The real question will be how to make the business case of the transition a good business case,” said Jorna. This business case does not yet exist in Europe, especially in energy-intensive industries such as steel, glass, cement and chemicals. While the Net Zero Industry Act (NZIA) of the last mandate has improved the approval processes for sustainable energy technologies, this has not yet been done for the customers of these technologies, she said.
In parallel with the Accelerator Act, Séjourné has also taken on the task of adapting public procurement rules in favor of European companies. The explicitly formulated goal of favoring European producers is new. Such “buy European” clauses have been included in draft versions of the NZIA in the past – but they were then omitted from the Commission’s final proposal.
The Commissioners-designate will now have to attend hearings before the relevant committees in the EU Parliament. They will be questioned about their qualifications for the job as well as potential political conflicts. The committee coordinators of the political groups then vote on the appointment. Finally, the plenary of the EU Parliament will vote on the entire college of the new EU Commission.
Henna Virkkunen’s list of duties is more extensive than the mission letters that Ursula von der Leyen sent to other members of the new Commission. The Finnish woman’s remit is very broad: As Executive Vice-President for Technical Sovereignty, Security and Democracy, she is to ensure that digital technologies are developed in line with European values, improve cyber security, tackle disinformation, and protect the EU’s democratic institutions. Provided that the European Parliament approves her nomination, but there is little doubt about that.
For the first time, Virkkunen will be responsible for both internal and external security. Another new aspect is that both DG CNECT and DG DIGIT will report directly to her. The development of an AI strategy is one of her tasks, as is supporting the establishment of a European AI Research Council.
The tasks match their profile and the interests of their country. “The most important European policy issues for Finland are security and the internal market“, says Manuel Müller, EU expert at the Finnish Institute of International Affairs. Virkkunen has made a name for himself in the area of the economy, but not in security policy.
In the European Parliament, Virkkunen has been a member of the Committee on Industry, Research and Energy (ITRE) since 2014 and was also a member of the Committee on Transport and Tourism (TRAN). She was Chair of the EPP’s SME Group, which monitors the impact of European legislation on small and medium-sized enterprises.
In her ten years in the European Parliament, the 52-year-old has worked on numerous industrial policy issues, often with a digital focus. As co-rapporteur for an EP own-initiative report on online platforms and the digital single market, she was one of the first parliamentarians to deal intensively with the topic of platform regulation.
She was rapporteur for the Cybersecurity Regulation for the EU institutions, worked on the Cyber Resilience Act and the Digital Services Act, and was also a member of the Committee of Inquiry into the Pegasus affair. As rapporteur, she was also responsible for the regulation of the Connecting Europe facility and was involved in the report on Horizon Europe. In addition, she was involved in numerous regulations in the transport sector.
Henna Virkkunen also has experience in government. She first entered the Finnish parliament in 2007. In 2008, she became Minister, first for Education and then for Public Administration. She was Minister of Transport for a short time before moving to the European Parliament. In von der Leyen’s view, this experience qualifies her for the higher tasks in the Commission. Especially as Finland was one of the few member states to nominate a woman.
As Finland’s largest governing party, the National Coalition Party (Kokoomus, KOK) has decided who it wants to send to the new Commission. Prime Minister Petteri Orpo had announced that the party would be someone who had stood as a candidate in the European elections. It had long been considered likely that his party colleague would be chosen. “Virkkunen is the face of Kokoomus in Brussels“, says expert Müller. “From a party perspective, she is an obvious choice.”
While she is now preparing for the hearing before the European Parliament, she has appointed Antti Timonen, the deputy spokesperson of Parliament President Roberta Metsola, as head of her transition team. This team will become Virkkunen’s cabinet if her appointment is confirmed.
“I’m a European reformer who grew up with porridge”, says Henna Virkkunen about herself. She lives with her husband and son in Jyväskylä, a city with around 150,000 inhabitants in central Finland. She studied journalism and has worked as a journalist and in communications. Virkkunen describes herself as a “horse girl” and likes to show herself in photos in the forest and doing sports. She runs marathons and takes part in the Ironman.
She also demonstrated her fitness in the reality TV show “Erikoisjoukot” in 2022. In the show, prominent participants complete exercises based on selection tests for the Finnish special forces. The German public would probably react to the participation of a nationally known politician in such a format with amusement and ridicule, if not outrage. In Finland, on the other hand, this is no big deal. But an MEP jumping out of a helicopter into a lake in full gear is unlikely to be an everyday sight there either. Sarah Schaefer, Corinna Visser
Some are talking about new commissioners or executive vice presidents, others are talking about cars. Fleet limits are one topic, while punitive tariffs on Chinese EVs are another hotly debated issue in the automotive industry.
Valdis Dombrovskis, the current Vice-President of the Commission and Trade Commissioner, met with the CEOs of automotive companies on Wednesday afternoon. What exactly the participants discussed was initially not made public.
Today, Dombrovskis is meeting the head of the Chinese Ministry of Commerce, Wang Wentao. The two are discussing the Commission’s anti-subsidy investigation into electric vehicles from China. China calls the planned measure by the Brussels authority protectionism. The Union calls it fair compensation for unfair subsidies. But nothing has been decided yet, which is why Wentao is making the trip.
I wish you an exciting Thursday.
EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has put together a promising team of Commissioners to continue the climate policy agenda over the next five years. Spain’s Teresa Ribera will be the new Commissioner for Competition. What does not initially sound like a climate portfolio actually involves the task of aligning the European Union’s state aid law with the EU’s climate targets – specifically, the expansion of renewables and industrial decarbonization.
According to a senior Commission official, Ribera’s competitive portfolio is the key to achieving the 2030 climate targets. The five-year mandate of this Commission ends shortly before the greenhouse gas reduction target of 55 percent compared to 1990 must be achieved. Consequently, the new Commission is “fully focussed” on the EU’s 2030 climate target, the official added.
The plan is to be brought to life with a Green Deal 2.0 named “Clean Industrial Deal.”
The ambitious and experienced climate politician Ribera and the French liberal industrial commissioner Stéphane Séjourné will oversee it. This shows that there is no room for regression, but rather the intention to step up the ambition for more climate action in industrial and economic policy, says Chiara Martinelli, Director of Climate Action Network Europe (CAN). Europe must undoubtedly continue to be a climate champion and achieve net-zero emissions by 2050, but also remain competitive along the way – that is the signal that von der Leyen sent out on Tuesday.
Reporting to Ribera will be Climate Commissioner Wopke Hoekstra, Energy Commissioner Dan Jørgensen and Environment Commissioner Jessika Roswall. Hoekstra and Jørgensen are also experienced climate politicians – one as current Climate Commissioner, the other as former Energy and Environment Minister in Denmark.
Von der Leyen’s mandate to combine climate action with industrial and economic policy is also reflected here in the allocation of tasks. The legislative work for the “Clean Industrial Deal” comes from the Directorates-General for Climate Action (DG CLIMA) and Internal Market and Industry (DG GROW). This means that Hoekstra and Séjourné are tasked with jointly driving forward industrial decarbonization, the ramp-up of clean technologies and investment incentives.
Hoekstra’s nomination also ensures continuity. As he did last year in Dubai, he will also lead the international climate negotiations at COP29 in Baku this November. If Hoekstra’s portfolio had changed, the EU would have appeared headless, given Hungary’s unambitious climate policy presidency in Baku. Von der Leyen has found an elegant and satisfactory solution for both Hoekstra and the Dutch government.
He and his subordinate DG CLIMA are also responsible for drafting the legislative package for the EU’s 2040 climate target, whose reduction target of 90 percent Hoekstra himself presented back in February. Moreover, he has been assigned the tax portfolio – the economic task the Netherlands had hoped for. Among other things, he will work on aligning value-added taxes with environmental criteria. Hoekstra could also drive the introduction of climate taxes and end environmentally harmful subsidies and tax privileges. For example, he could now tackle the issue of the kerosene tax, which was announced a year ago.
Danish national Jørgensen also has a relevant climate profile, but will now be Energy Commissioner. The economic aspects of his portfolio are obvious: Low energy prices are essential for economic recovery. However, von der Leyen insists that energy sources must become cleaner. According to the Commission President, small modular nuclear power plants and CO2 capture technologies, which Jørgensen is supposed to help ramp up, will also help.
Jørgensen is a solid choice as Energy Commissioner, says Linda Kalcher, Director of the Brussels-based think tank Strategic Perspectives. “I expect him to be immune to greenwashing, that blue hydrogen or various carbon capture technologies will solve all our problems of tomorrow, and that he will be pragmatic about nuclear energy.”
Although Environment Commissioner-designate Jessika Roswall has no experience in her new area of responsibility, she is a clever political compromise. The EPP party family had recently focussed its criticism primarily on nature conservation and is now getting a responsible Commissioner from its own ranks.
Von der Leyen will certainly not give her free rein. Her department will have to make a significant contribution to the planned European climate adaptation plan and revise the controversial EU chemicals regulation REACH, which some in the EPP will not be happy about and is likely to greatly impact the chemical industry.
She will have an easier time selling environmental protection in her party family than her Green predecessor, Virginijus Sinkevičius. But the Environment Committee could make life difficult for her. Sweden voted against the Nature Restoration Law and did not support the anti-deforestation regulation, liberal environmental politician Pascal Canfin posted on X. Commissioners usually jointly represent Commission proposals. Now, Canfin suggests, there is a risk that Roswall will go against the Commission’s line. “We will have to make sure she acts as true EU commissioner.”
In addition, Séjourné has been tasked with proposing an “Industrial Decarbonization Accelerator Act” to promote “European lead markets for the development, production and diffusion in industry of clean tech” and accelerating planning, tendering and approval procedures, especially for energy-intensive industries. The European Commission has thus taken up an idea that German Economy Minister Robert Habeck had previously put forward with his concept for green lead markets.
At a panel discussion on Wednesday, Director-General Kerstin Jorna (DG GROW) and Director-General Kurt Vandenberghe (DG CLIMA) gave an initial insight into the new Commission’s industrial strategy: “The real question will be how to make the business case of the transition a good business case,” said Jorna. This business case does not yet exist in Europe, especially in energy-intensive industries such as steel, glass, cement and chemicals. While the Net Zero Industry Act (NZIA) of the last mandate has improved the approval processes for sustainable energy technologies, this has not yet been done for the customers of these technologies, she said.
In parallel with the Accelerator Act, Séjourné has also taken on the task of adapting public procurement rules in favor of European companies. The explicitly formulated goal of favoring European producers is new. Such “buy European” clauses have been included in draft versions of the NZIA in the past – but they were then omitted from the Commission’s final proposal.
The Commissioners-designate will now have to attend hearings before the relevant committees in the EU Parliament. They will be questioned about their qualifications for the job as well as potential political conflicts. The committee coordinators of the political groups then vote on the appointment. Finally, the plenary of the EU Parliament will vote on the entire college of the new EU Commission.
Henna Virkkunen’s list of duties is more extensive than the mission letters that Ursula von der Leyen sent to other members of the new Commission. The Finnish woman’s remit is very broad: As Executive Vice-President for Technical Sovereignty, Security and Democracy, she is to ensure that digital technologies are developed in line with European values, improve cyber security, tackle disinformation, and protect the EU’s democratic institutions. Provided that the European Parliament approves her nomination, but there is little doubt about that.
For the first time, Virkkunen will be responsible for both internal and external security. Another new aspect is that both DG CNECT and DG DIGIT will report directly to her. The development of an AI strategy is one of her tasks, as is supporting the establishment of a European AI Research Council.
The tasks match their profile and the interests of their country. “The most important European policy issues for Finland are security and the internal market“, says Manuel Müller, EU expert at the Finnish Institute of International Affairs. Virkkunen has made a name for himself in the area of the economy, but not in security policy.
In the European Parliament, Virkkunen has been a member of the Committee on Industry, Research and Energy (ITRE) since 2014 and was also a member of the Committee on Transport and Tourism (TRAN). She was Chair of the EPP’s SME Group, which monitors the impact of European legislation on small and medium-sized enterprises.
In her ten years in the European Parliament, the 52-year-old has worked on numerous industrial policy issues, often with a digital focus. As co-rapporteur for an EP own-initiative report on online platforms and the digital single market, she was one of the first parliamentarians to deal intensively with the topic of platform regulation.
She was rapporteur for the Cybersecurity Regulation for the EU institutions, worked on the Cyber Resilience Act and the Digital Services Act, and was also a member of the Committee of Inquiry into the Pegasus affair. As rapporteur, she was also responsible for the regulation of the Connecting Europe facility and was involved in the report on Horizon Europe. In addition, she was involved in numerous regulations in the transport sector.
Henna Virkkunen also has experience in government. She first entered the Finnish parliament in 2007. In 2008, she became Minister, first for Education and then for Public Administration. She was Minister of Transport for a short time before moving to the European Parliament. In von der Leyen’s view, this experience qualifies her for the higher tasks in the Commission. Especially as Finland was one of the few member states to nominate a woman.
As Finland’s largest governing party, the National Coalition Party (Kokoomus, KOK) has decided who it wants to send to the new Commission. Prime Minister Petteri Orpo had announced that the party would be someone who had stood as a candidate in the European elections. It had long been considered likely that his party colleague would be chosen. “Virkkunen is the face of Kokoomus in Brussels“, says expert Müller. “From a party perspective, she is an obvious choice.”
While she is now preparing for the hearing before the European Parliament, she has appointed Antti Timonen, the deputy spokesperson of Parliament President Roberta Metsola, as head of her transition team. This team will become Virkkunen’s cabinet if her appointment is confirmed.
“I’m a European reformer who grew up with porridge”, says Henna Virkkunen about herself. She lives with her husband and son in Jyväskylä, a city with around 150,000 inhabitants in central Finland. She studied journalism and has worked as a journalist and in communications. Virkkunen describes herself as a “horse girl” and likes to show herself in photos in the forest and doing sports. She runs marathons and takes part in the Ironman.
She also demonstrated her fitness in the reality TV show “Erikoisjoukot” in 2022. In the show, prominent participants complete exercises based on selection tests for the Finnish special forces. The German public would probably react to the participation of a nationally known politician in such a format with amusement and ridicule, if not outrage. In Finland, on the other hand, this is no big deal. But an MEP jumping out of a helicopter into a lake in full gear is unlikely to be an everyday sight there either. Sarah Schaefer, Corinna Visser