Factbox-Who’s Who in the Top European Commission Elections By Reuters

BRUSSELS (Reuters) – European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen nominated her candidates for EU executive posts on Tuesday.

Each of the 27 EU member states gets a seat at the Commission table. Here are some of the key posts and nominees:

BUDGET

Piotr Serafin (Poland)

Poland’s ambassador to the European Union was current Prime Minister Donald Tusk’s chief of staff when Tusk was president of the European Council from 2014 to 2019, during which the bloc was rocked by Britain’s vote to leave the EU.

He was also State Secretary from 2008 to 2014, during Tusk’s first term as Polish Prime Minister.

His main task will be to draw up the EU’s next seven-year budget – a highly complex and politically sensitive task.

Serafin will be expected to draw on his experience as deputy chief of staff to EU budget commissioner Janusz Lewandowski, when he worked on the EU’s 2014-2020 multiannual budget.

COHESION POLICY

Raffaele Fitto (Italy)

The European Affairs Minister is one of the most moderate members of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s right-wing Brothers of Italy party, but her appointment to the top post has raised questions among EU lawmakers, who could block her.

Fitto has been responsible for Italy’s slow efforts to spend EU funds on the COVID-19 rescue and meet reform targets related to the money.

The 55-year-old has experience as a former MEP and comes from a family of politicians. Both he and his father were presidents of his home region in southern Puglia.

Italy had hoped for a tough position despite Meloni’s party voting against von der Leyen when the EU parliament approved her second term as Commission president in July.

CLIMATE

Wopke Hoekstra (Netherlands)

Hoekstra is the EU’s Climate Commissioner from October 2023 and will remain in the role, with the addition of “clean growth” to his title, an indication of the EU’s effort to produce its own green products rather than relying on imports. especially from China.

The 48-year-old father-of-four has a varied background, having worked at oil company Shell ( LON: ) and consulting firm McKinsey, along with serving as finance and foreign minister in his home country.

European parliamentarians put Hoekstra through a tough approval process when he was appointed EU climate chief because of his tenure at Shell and because he comes from the centre-right European People’s Party political group, which has opposed some EU laws environmental.

COMPETITION

Teresa Ribera (Spain)

A long-time advocate for ambitious climate action, Teresa Ribera has been Spain’s minister for the ecological transition since 2018 and has accelerated the country’s transition to clean energy.

Ribera – who has clashed with Spanish companies over his energy policies – will be tasked with ensuring a level playing field in Europe’s single market. Like antitrust chief Margrethe Vestager, part of her task will likely include policing Big Tech.

Ribera, 55, with two daughters, will be one of the most powerful women in a male-dominated Commission after most governments ignored von der Leyen’s request to nominate both male and female candidates .

DEFENSE

Andrius Kubilius (Lithuania)

Kubilius, 67, was Lithuania’s prime minister twice, from 1999 to 2000 and from 2008 to 2012. Both times, he made painful reforms – including spending cuts and tax hikes – to deal with economic crises. He lost the subsequent elections.

He cut pensions twice in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis, which saw Lithuania’s economy shrink by 15%. His domestic ratings fell and have not recovered, and he lost his party leadership in 2015.

He is currently a member of the European Parliament. In the defense post, his task will be to persuade European governments and arms firms to cooperate to reduce fragmentation in the sector and increase defense production capacity.

ECONOMY

Valdis Dombrovskis (Latvia)

The former Latvian prime minister and finance minister will serve a third term as commissioner, focused so far on financial services and the EU economy.

He has also taken up the trade file, seeking to ease transatlantic trade tensions following Donald Trump’s US presidency.

Dombrovskis will keep the economy portfolio and will be in charge of trying to reduce or simplify the EU’s countless regulations and directives.

ENERGY

Dan Jorgensen (Denmark)

Denmark has aimed to install a strong advocate for climate action in the new Commission, in the form of its minister for development and global climate policy.

Jorgensen, 49 and a socialist, was behind laws that required Denmark to cut emissions by 70% from 1990 levels within 10 years and phase out oil and gas extraction from the North Sea by 2050 .Denmark has traditionally opposed nuclear power.

Jorgensen has been active in global climate talks and is no stranger to the EU, having been a member of the European Parliament from 2004 to 2013.

FOREIGN POLICY

Kaja Kallas (Estonia)

Kallas, 47, has used his position as Estonia’s prime minister to become one of the most vocal critics of neighboring Russia among European leaders – and one of the happiest supporters of Ukraine’s bids to join the European Union and NATO.

Under her leadership, from 2021 to 2024, the country of 1.4 million people became one of Ukraine’s largest per capita military donors.

In February this year, Russian police placed her on a watch list for destroying Soviet-era monuments in Estonia. Kallas promised that the move would not stop her from supporting Ukraine.

However, her popularity at home suffered when Estonian media revealed last year that her husband was involved in a business that continued operations in Russia, even as Kallas publicly criticized anyone who did so.

INTERNAL AFFAIRS/MIGRATION

Magnus Brunner (Austria)

As Austria’s finance minister, Brunner’s signature achievement was a law to counter so-called “cold progression” whereby taxpayers slide into higher income tax brackets through inflation.

The 52-year-old from the mountainous province of Vorarlberg, which borders Switzerland, has implemented classically conservative policies, although political opponents have accused him of spending too little and not doing enough to counter inflation.

INDUSTRIAL STRATEGY

Stéphane Séjourné (France)

France’s foreign minister was a late addition to the line-up after Thierry Breton abruptly resigned on Monday.

Sejourne, 39, is a loyalist of President Emmanuel Macron, with their ties dating back to his time as an adviser when Macron was French economy minister from 2014 to 2016. The centrist group Renew Europe.

He has only been leading France’s foreign ministry since January, once again sticking to Macron’s policies.

commerce

Maros Sefcovic (Slovakia)

A former diplomat who was Slovakia’s ambassador to Israel and the EU, the 58-year-old has been a commissioner since 2009, most recently in charge of relations with other EU institutions.

Sefcovic took over the EU-UK file, helping to improve EU ties with former EU member Britain and seal the Windsor framework agreement that eases post-Brexit trade deals for Northern Ireland.

The Slovak commissioner also took on EU relations with Switzerland, trying to encourage the Alpine nation to accept a broader agreement governing its economic ties with the European Union.

Sefcovic will be commissioner for trade and economic security, a nod to the EU executive’s policy of stronger controls on the export of technology that could be used militarily by rivals such as China.