EP PUTS ENDORSEMENT OF EC VICE-PRESIDENTS ON HOLD
On 12 November, the European Parliament held the last round of confirmation hearings with the six Commission’s Executive Vice-Presidents-designate, including Teresa Ribera, responsible for the Clean, Just and Competitive Transition, and Raffaele Fitto for Cohesion and Reforms. Commissioner-designate for Transport Apostolos Tzitzikostas will report to Mr. Fitto under this portfolio.
In her opening remarks, Ms. Ribera paid tribute to the victims of the recent floods in Valencia, Spain. She reaffirmed her commitment to advancing the European Green Deal to meet climate targets and proposed a new approach to competition policy aimed at supporting European companies in achieving a global level playing field. Echoing the statements of Wopke Hoekstra’s remarks (Commissioner-designate for Climate, Net Zero, and Clean Growth), she pledged to work towards implementing EU climate and energy targets for 2030 and establishing an EU 2040 target to reduce net GHG emissions by 90%, enabling the EU to become carbon neutral by mid-century. On competition matters, Ms. Ribera outlined plans for reform to accelerate enforcement processes, simplify State aid rules, and addressing acquisitions that stifle innovation.
Transport topics were not a prominent focus during Mr Fitto’s confirmation hearing. However, he indicated that he would work closely with Mr Tzitzikostas’ on elaborating Commission’s recommendations on transport poverty and addressing the lack of transport infrastructure in less-populated, rural areas.
The confirmation of the six EC’s Executive Vice-Presidents and Hungarian Commissioner-designate for Health Olivér Várhelyi is currently on hold, as political groups are still negotiating to form a majority to endorse each of the remaining Commissioner-designate. The Parliament in Plenary session then needs to formally approve the College of Commissioners, for which the date of the vote is tentatively set to 27 November. The mandate of the new Commission would then start on 1st December.
Source: European Parliament