The EU in total. 7 Presidents and 23 Vice-Presidents
You didn’t vote any of them in, and you can’t vote any of them out
Yesterday the President-elect of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen from Germany, announced her list of new EU Commissioners. (The term ‘President-elect’ is, of course, a misnomer, as she was the only candidate put forward.) She also announced a new structure for her organisation.
The new EU Commission will have 27 members comprising :
1 President
3 Executive Vice-Presidents
5 Vice-Presidents
And 18 other Commissioners
In total, they number 27 — one from each of the EU27 countries, regardless of size. The UK declined to nominate a Commissioner, even though it is still a member of the EU. If the UK does not exit the EU on 31 October it will have to nominate a Commissioner.
Relevance to Brexit
One appointment will be of particular interest to UK ministers: that of Phil Hogan of the Republic of Ireland as EU Trade Commissioner. The anti-Brexit Mr. Hogan will be responsible for negotiating a trade deal with the UK after Brexit.
It may also interest readers to learn the titles of some of the ‘Portfolios’ of the new EU Commissioners.
It may also interest readers to learn the titles of some of the ‘Portfolios’ of the new EU Commissioners.
European Green Deal
Europe Fit for Digital Age
An Economy that Works for People
A Stronger Europe in the World
Interinstitutional Relations and Foresight
Values and Transparency
Democracy and Demography
Protecting our European Way of Life
Innovation and Youth
Cohesion and Reforms
Crisis Management
Environment and Oceans
The above are some of the official titles of the portfolios allotted to 12 of the new Commissioners yesterday. When we have worked out what all these titles mean in the real world, we will, of course, bring readers this exciting news.
The chequered past of two of the new nominees for EU Commissioner
According to French media, Sylvie Goulard, France’s candidate for the European Commission, has had to re-pay 45,000 euros to the European Parliament, in the case of alleged fictitious jobs of parliamentary assistants. This case was only closed by the EU Parliament two weeks ago.
Meanwhile, the Polish commissioner Janusz Wojciechowski is under investigation by the European anti-fraud office for “presumed irregularities” concerning the reimbursement of travel claims when he was an MEP. This must be embarrassing for someone who is a member of the European Court of Auditors which monitors and audits MEPs expenses.
Finally, a quick summary of all your EU Presidents and Vice-Presidents
The EU as a whole comprises seven institutions which are defined in the EU Treaties. Below is the list of EU Presidents and Vice-Presidents
Presidents
President of the European [Union] Council
President of the Council of the European Union
President of the European [Union] Commission
President of the European [Union] Parliament
President of the Court of Justice of the European Union
President of the European [Union] Central Bank
President of the European [Union] Court of Auditors
Vice-Presidents
3 Executive Vice-Presidents of the European [Union] Commission
5 Vice-Presidents of the European [Union] Commission
14 Vice-Presidents of the European [Union] Parliament
1 Vice-President of the European [Union] Central Bank
The EU in total: 7 Presidents and 23 Vice-Presidents
So many highly-paid Presidents, Vice-Presidents, and other bureaucrats. The only President who has a remote claim to a popular mandate is Signor Sassoli, President of the EU Parliament, but he was only elected by Italians to be an MEP.
Readers may well be in despair at the childish and frankly embarrassing behaviour of our MPs in Parliament over the past few days.
There is one difference, though. EU Commissioners are immensely powerful, are not elected, and cannot be removed by the people.
At least we can rid ourselves of our incompetent MPs at the next general election when it finally happens.
[ Sources: EU Commission | French media ]
