Poland, Lithuania nominate new commissioners [fr] [de]

Background

In the autumn, a new college of EU commissioners will be appointed for a five-year term. The selection of a new European Commission, never the simplest of political tasks, will this year be more complex than ever. Politically and institutionally, 2009 contains a whole range of permutations regarding the 'how?', 'when?' and 'who?' of the next EU executive. As EurActiv announced in January, most commissioners will not be re-appointed for the next term (EurActiv 28/01/09).

José Manuel Barroso has won the unanimous backing of EU member states for a second mandate as president of the European Commission. He now needs to convince the European Parliament, which is expected to vote on his reappointment in mid-July.

If Barroso is reconfirmed in July, member states will nominate their candidates, sounding out the right person for the right portfolio over the summer. But the hearings to approve the new college members will have to wait for the outcome of the second Irish referendum on the Lisbon Treaty in early October. 

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Paweł Samecki has been designated by the Polish government to replace Regional Policy Commissioner Danuta Hübner, who resigned last week (23 June) after being elected to the European Parliament on 7 June (EurActiv.pl 24/06/09).

Polish EU Affairs Minister Mikołaj Dowgielewicz declared after the European Parliament elections that Janusz Lewandowski, a member of the outgoing European Parliament (EPP-ED) who was re-elected in June, had been chosen by Prime Minister Donald Tusk to replace Danuta Hübner (EurActiv 17/06/09).

Centre-right MEP Janusz Lewandowski, who had been considered favourite for the job, will likely be Poland's candidate for the Commission's next mandate as Warsaw seeks another portfolio (perhaps economic and monetary affairs, the internal market or enterprise and industry), leaving Samecki to serve in the interim. "Mr Samecki will be commissioner for half a year," confirmed an EPP-ED press officer.

Pavel Telička, who was the Czech Republic's first commissioner upon his country's entry into the EU on 1 May 2004, found himself in a similar situation. Telička became EU commissioner in the Prodi Commission and shared the health and consumer protection portfolio with David Byrne. He did not continue in the current Commission due to a government crisis and was succeeded by resigning Prime Minister Vladimír Špidla. 

On 9 July, the Parliament's conference of presidents will decide when to hold the hearings for new commissioners. If the Parliament decides to hold the hearings after the August recess, the new commissioners may only hold office for three months. "Now the formal procedure to install Samecki in the post begins," government spokesman Pawel Gras told Poland's PAP news agency.

The 51-year old Samecki has been a member of the National Bank of Poland's management board since 2004. A former finance minister (1997-1998), he will replace Hübner in her capacity as regional policy commissioner.

According to key Parliament sources, Hübner hesitated before resigning from the Commission. She had hoped to be reappointed as a member of the college by Prime Minister Donald Tusk after running in the European elections on Civic Platform's list and winning a seat in the Warsaw constituency. Hübner is not a member of Civic Platform, and was nominated commissioner by a socialist government in 2004.

According to these same sources, Hübner has a very good chance of being appointed head of the Parliament's regional policy committee. This would deprive Jacek Saryusz-Wolski of his foreign affairs committee chair, as Poland will not be able to hold more than two key parliamentary mandates at the same time. Jerzy Buzek is expected to become the next president of the EU assembly (EurActiv 19/06/09).

Lithuania's finance minister replaces Grybauskaité

Lithuanian Finance Minister Algirdas Šemeta (EurActiv 19/06/09) will replace Dalia Grybauskaite at the EU executive. Grybauskaite was elected president of the Baltic country in May (EurActiv 18/05/09), and will be inaugurated on 12 July.

Šemeta will take on the financial programming and budget portfolio. Before becoming finance minister, he served as director-general of the government's statistics department (2001-2008) and government secretary in the Office of the Government (1999-2001).

Kuneva postpones her decision, Reding to stay on

Other commissioners who were elected to the European Parliament must decide whether to stay on at the EU executive, or resign and take on their new roles as MEPs. 

Bulgarian Commissioner Meglena Kuneva (consumer protection) will have to make up her mind what to do before 7 July as stipulated by Bulgarian law.

Another election victor, Luxembourg Commissioner Viviane Reding, has already unofficially announced that she will stay in the Commission for a third consecutive mandate, and is already planning for the next five years (EurActiv 23/06/09). 

Belgian Commissioner Louis Michel, meanwhile, is certain to sit in the Parliament, despite not having officially resigned from his current position yet. The identity of his substitute is yet to be revealed.

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