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Mark Nayler
Malaga
Friday, 20 September 2024, 10:54
There were rumblings of discontent amongst the European centre-right this week after Spain's minister for the ecological transition, Teresa Ribera, was named as ... the EU's next energy commissioner. Members of the European People's Party (EPP) argue that she's too left-wing and anti-business to be the second most-powerful person in Ursula von der Leyen's next Commission, which will begin work at the end of the year. The French government has also expressed reservations about her anti-nuclear stance.
But Ribera won't be operating in an echo-chamber. Several EPP politicians will report to her in her new role, providing crucial balance in the energy department: Wopke Hoekstra, formerly deputy prime minister of the Netherlands, will hold on to his climate portfolio; agriculture will be managed by Luxembourg's Christophe Hansen; and Sweden's Jessika Roswall will shape environmental policy. Another centre-right politician, Stéphane Séjourné - previously leader of the liberal Renew Europe party and now France's foreign minister - will become vice president of industrial strategy.
Ribera and her team of political counterweights have a formidable task ahead of them - namely to realise von der Leyen's 2050 net-zero dream. But all-encompassing EU policies often fail because they don't take into account the unique situations of member states, nor the pressures of industry - which is why the tractors were out in force earlier this year. Ribera's inner circle of centre-right deputies will be crucial in checking her crusading tendencies; Hansen, in particular, will play a major role, as his new boss has already said that she wants the agricultural sector to reduce emissions faster than it is doing now.
Ribera will have her hands full, not only because of the importance of the energy portfolio itself, but also because she's likely to clash with key members of her team. Why, then, has Von der Leyen taken the unprecedented step of fusing the energy and competition portfolios and given both to the Spaniard? There are obvious connections between the two areas, but Ribera will have a tough time being effective in her dual capacity; and given her expertise and background in climate issues, it will probably be the competition portfolio that suffers.
Unfortunately for Ribera, any shortcomings in this department will be rendered even more conspicuous by comparisons with her predecessor, Denmark's Margrethe Vestager.
In 2019, Donald Trump branded Vestager the 'tax lady', claiming that 'she hates the US perhaps worse than any person I've ever met'. The Danish politician had provoked the then-US president's anger by challenging tech giants such as Apple and Amazon about their offshore taxation arrangements. Just last week, the EU's highest court ruled in Vestager's favour, ordering Apple to pay 13 billion dollars in back taxes to Ireland. It was a fitting denouement for the Dane, but her successor is unlikely to be as prominent or tenacious in the role. She'll be too busy saving the planet.
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