EU Insight, 6 September 2024

Brussels, 6 September 2024

NEW COMMISSION TAKES SHAPE

Over the summer, Member States provided Commission President Ursula von der Leyen the names for their respective Commissioner nominations. Only Bulgaria provided both a male and a female candidate, despite von der Leyen’s explicit request for Member States to do so. This added the lack of gender balance as an additional layer to the already complex and politically charged task of distributing responsibilities in the Commission. Notable candidates vying for important portfolios include Spain’s Teresa Ribera, Italy’s Raffaele Fitto and returning commissioners from France, Thierry Breton, and Latvia, Valdis Dombrovskis. Von der Leyen is expected to unveil the new Commission structure and portfolio distribution next week, following which the ball will be on the European Parliament’s court who will have to endorse the new Commission after holding hearings on the Commissioner designates.

EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT RETURNS TO WORK

After the summer break, the European Parliament officially kickstarted its work this week, known as la rentrée (back to school in French). While the legislative agenda of the new mandate is yet to be defined and operationalized by the new Commission, parliamentary committees still have their hands full with work leftover from the previous legislature. In fact before picking up work on those unfinished legislations, over the next couple weeks, the Parliament will have to determine which legislations they wish to prioritise and which should be left aside, as well as who should lead negotiations on files whose rapporteur was not re-elected. The Parliament will also keep busy with preparing for the confirmation hearings of the Commissioner designates.

REPORT OF THE STRATEGIC DIALOGUE ON THE FUTURE OF EU AGRICULTURE

The Commission published a report on the future of farming and food in the EU, arising from the Strategic Dialogue on the future of EU agriculture. To recall, in response to the wave of farmers’ protests across the Union, the Commission set up the Dialogue, as a forum to bring together players from the European agri-food sector, civil society and the scientific community, and discuss the challenges facing the agricultural sector. Overall, the report puts forth a series of recommendations to ensure the future of the sector, focusing on sustainability, competitiveness and standard of living. Moving forward, these recommendations are meant to serve as a basis for the new Commission’s agricultural policy.

COMMISSION UNVEILS RESULTS OF COMPETITION PROCEDURES EVALUATION

The Commission published its findings of the evaluation of the EU’s antitrust framework. Since its adoption in 2004, the framework has shaped procedures and rules governing competition law enforcement in the EU, such as direct applicability of EU competition rules by national authorities and the cooperation between European and national enforcers. Overall, while the report considers the framework as successful and still relevant, it highlights elements worth improving. These include the need for faster investigation procedures and closer coordination among national authorities. Moving forward, the evaluation could serve as a basis for the Commission to launch a legislative revision to possible amend the EU antitrust procedural framework.

COUNCIL GREEN-LIGHTS FIRST PAYMENT UNDER UKRAINE FACILITY

On 6 August, the Council gave its green light to disburse the first aid payment under the EU’s Ukraine Facility. The first payment reaches almost €4.2 billion of the total €50 billion available under the Facility, which serves to bring together and coordinate all bilateral support provided by the EU to Ukraine. Overall, the funds disbursed under the aid package are destined to support Ukraine’s recovery, reconstruction, and EU integration from 2024 until 2027. The Council’s endorsement followed the Commission’s decision to unlock the funds after it deemed Ukraine had successfully conducted internal institutional reforms and adopted its National Energy and Climate Plan for its 2030 energy transition.

COMING UP NEXT WEEK

• 8-10 September: Informal meeting of agriculture and fisheries ministers.
• 11 September: College of Commissioners. On the agenda: State of the Energy Union Report.
• 12 September: Governing Council of the European Central Bank (ECB). On the agenda: monetary policy
• 13 September: Eurogroup.
• 13-14 September: Informal meeting of economic and financial affairs ministers. On the agenda: sustainable financing of green transition, public debt.

Karl Isaksson, Managing Partner Brussels, Kreab

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Kreab • Tel: +32 2 737 6900 • karl.isaksson@kreab.com • www.kreab.com/brussels • X: @KreabEU  •  LinkedIn: Kreab Worldwide