It is the day of the European Commission. The new president of the Community Executive Jean-Claude Juncker today presents the new team that will hold the reins of Brussels in the coming years. The appointments are the result of the many negotiations that have taken place in recent weeks. The only box assigned so far is that of the deputy of the Commission, the head of European diplomacy, Federica Mogherini. Probable the appointment of the French socialist Pierre Moscovici to the economy, as hoped by Italy.
In the last week, Juncker had a series of meetings with the 27 candidates proposed by the member states to evaluate their suitability for the job and their European spirit and subsequently delivered the list of future commissioners to the EU Council, which gave its all clear on Friday.
The Commission proposed by Juncker is made up of 19 men and 9 women (the same proportion as the executive of Josè Manuel Barroso), mostly conservatives. Once the Commission's organizational chart for the next five years is known, the candidates will have to pass the scrutiny of the European Parliament and pass a block vote in the October plenary session, in the Eurochamber.
Thirteen of the 27 aspiring commissioner come from the ranks of the European People's Party, 8 from the socialist ranks, 5 from the Alliance of European Liberals and Democrats and one from the Alliance of European Conservatives and Reformists, Jonathan Hill, so far leader of the conservative group in the Chamber of Lord. Juncker's Commission will also count on four former prime ministers: the Finnish Jyrki Katainen, the Estonian Andrus Ansip, the Latvian Valdis Dombrovskis and the Slovenian Alenka Bratusek; and on a deputy prime minister, the Polish Elzbieta Bienkowska.
Current MEPs will also be in the next commission, such as the Belgian Marianne Thyssen, the Cypriot Christos Stylianides and the Polish Corina Cretu.
