“substitution”, france loses out?
2024-09-19
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european commission president ursula von der leyen announced the list of nominees for the new european commission on the 17th. french foreign minister sergey séjourne was nominated as the executive vice president of the european commission responsible for industrial strategy and other matters. the day before, the european commission's internal market commissioner, frenchman breton, announced his resignation and accused von der leyen of forcing and bribing the french side to "change people." there are many opinions in france about this "deal."
"france mourns loss of influence in new european commission",the european edition of the u.s. "politico" reported on the 17th that five french officials lamented that the new personnel appointments fully demonstrated that france's influence in the european union has declined and french president macron's influence on the european stage is no longer what it used to be. an unnamed french official said: "the real problem is that we failed to secure a commitment for an important position."
macron file photo (visual china)
the report said that although séjourne's nomination as the executive vice president of the european commission was a small victory in terms of title, the "resources" he directly controlled were not as good as breton's. breton directly controlled three directorates-general while séjourne only directly controlled one. a french official said that séjourne's role was more like a chief coordinator rather than an important figure in the european commission.
france's le figaro said that séjourne's responsibilities are broad and important, especially in promoting europe's industrial base and global competitiveness. however, he does not have control over the defense or digital fields, and he needs to work with the portuguese commissioner, and the latvian commissioner oversees the public finances of member states. although in theory séjourne's responsibilities are broader than breton's, he is in charge of fewer directorates-general than breton. the report said that macron's supporters and the elysee palace have been praising séjourne's future position in the european commission. "don't let people say that france has failed to get a position that matches its position in europe and macron's ambitions for the european union. don't let people think that paris is losing influence and berlin is dominant in the european commission led by von der leyen."
data map of sejourne (visual china)
the french newspaper les echos said:a political insider worried that "france will face a doubly weakened situation as a result" and that "von der leyen rejected the french nominee (breton), while the president replaced him with a weak figure. this is unprecedented."
politico said that part of the reason for this result was that macron's position was weakened after he was defeated by the far right in the european parliament elections in june. but some people disagree, and a french diplomat claimed victory. "some say we lost, i say we won," he said. "yes, we have one less directorate general, but we have the status of executive vice president. we have gathered the tools to enhance competitiveness in one place."
the eu's power reorganization has some people happy and some worried
on the 17th, european commission president ursula von der leyen announced the list of nominees for the new european commission, and the rightward shift and the rise and fall of power among member states became the focus. the french newspaper le monde commented that the composition of the new european commission reflects three major trends: the strengthening of von der leyen's authority, the change in the balance of power between eu member states, and the expansion of the influence of the right-wing political forces that emerged in the european parliament elections in june. the newspaper pointed out that against the backdrop of the russian-ukrainian war,the influence of central and eastern european countries in the new eu leadership is growing, while the influence of germany and france is relatively weakening.agence france-presse commented on the 18th that anti-russia hawks in eastern europe have gained powerful positions in the eu leadership, while those countries that have maintained close ties with moscow have lost influence, especially hungary. some russian scholars have warned thatthe new european commission is a "war group against russia" and "europe's anti-russian hysteria will further escalate."
on the 17th, european commission president ursula von der leyen announced the list of nominees for the new european commission at a press conference in strasbourg, france. (visual china)
'painful negotiations'
von der leyen announced the list of nominees for the new executive vice president and commissioners of the european commission at a press conference held in strasbourg, france on the 17th. among them, 6 people were nominated as executive vice presidents of the european commission: frenchman serjourne (in charge of industrial strategy and other affairs), spanish rivera (in charge of competition and other affairs), finnish virkunen (in charge of technological sovereignty and other affairs), estonian kallas (in charge of diplomacy and other affairs), romanian menzato (in charge of education and other affairs), italian fito (in charge of solidarity and reform affairs). among the members of the previous european commission, there were only 3 executive vice presidents.
according to eu regulations, including the president of the european commission, the european commission has 27 members from various eu member states, responsible for different areas of affairs, and their appointments must be approved by the european parliament. agence france-presse said that the "influence" of eu member states is related to the weight of the positions of the candidates nominated by each country in the european commission. after the european parliament elections in june this year, the european council nominated von der leyen to be re-elected as president of the european commission and kallas as the high representative of the european union for foreign affairs and security policy. von der leyen was re-elected by the european parliament in july and immediately set about forming a new european commission.
"the overall situation is still undecided." radio france internationale said that the european parliament election three months ago marked the rise of the far right, and about 15 positions in the european commission were won by the european people's party, the largest conservative party in the european parliament. behind the scenes,negotiations over these commissioner positions were painful until the very last minute.in the coming weeks, the commissioners-designate must pass a hearing and vote in the european parliament before they can be formally appointed for a five-year term. "as usual, the commissioners' hearings in the european parliament are likely to be fraught with obstacles."
austrian newspaper news commented on the 18th that the new commission nominated by von der leyen is more tactical than balanced, a combination of power and control, and her political priorities will be economy and defense. for different reasons, germany and france are currently in trouble, which increases the value of member states such as spain, italy and poland.“over the next year and a half, the key eu strategy may not come from paris or berlin but from the 13th floor of the berlaymont building in brussels, where von der leyen will consolidate her vertical of power.”
"italy and ukraine are winners"
radio france internationale believes that fito is a candidate destined to cause controversy in the european parliament. he is a cabinet member of the italian government and belongs to the italian brothers party, which is considered to be far-right. the center-left group in the european parliament had previously warned against fito's appointment, but italian prime minister meroni congratulated italy on the 17th for "returning to the core position of the european union." germany's stuttgart daily said that the biggest winner in this appointment is italian prime minister meroni, who has successfully ensured additional power and influence in brussels.
"eastern europe's anti-russia hawks are flexing their muscles in the eu's top team," agence france-presse said on the 18th. after the eu's power reshuffle, eastern european countries that are most wary of russia have been nominated for key positions including foreign policy and security defense, and seem to have greater influence in the eu leadership. the most eye-catching is former estonian prime minister kallas, who has been nominated as the eu's top diplomat for the next five years, and former lithuanian prime minister kubilius has been nominated for the newly created position of defense commissioner. in addition, finns, latvians and poles have been nominated for positions in the european commission responsible for security, economic and budgetary issues respectively. "i don't think this is a transfer of power, but a balance of power," said an eastern european diplomat.
agence france-presse said that ukraine seems to be one of the winners of the eu's power change. daniel hegedus, an expert at the german think tank marshall fund, said: "it is clear that von der leyen hopes to lock her continued support for ukraine into the structure of the new european commission." hungary is considered the main loser, and its representative in brussels has been transferred from being responsible for expansion affairs to health and animal welfare affairs. however, the report said that even if brussels has fanatical supporters of kiev, it does not mean that eu countries will always support ukraine.
who will shape the eu’s china policy?
hong kong's south china morning post believes that based on the list of new members of the european commission, spain, france and slovakia may play an important role in shaping the eu's china policy. spaniard rivera and frenchman serjourne were nominated as executive vice presidents of the european commission. slovak sefcovic was nominated as the european commissioner for trade and economic security, replacing the current european commission executive vice president and trade commissioner valdis dombrovskis. in his nomination letter, von der leyen specifically mentioned that it is necessary to "control economic and trade relations with china in accordance with the policy of de-risking without decoupling" and to deal with the spillover effects of so-called "non-market practices, market distortions and overcapacity".
chinese minister of commerce wang wentao is currently visiting europe. on the 17th, he met with german chancellor's minister schmidt in berlin. the two sides focused on in-depth exchanges on issues such as the eu's anti-subsidy case against china's electric vehicles. singapore's lianhe zaobao said that the 27 eu member states will vote on september 25 whether to impose a tariff of up to 35.3% on electric vehicles produced in china. eu countries have differences on this, and china is making a final effort to prevent the eu from taking this measure.
global times special correspondents in france and germany shang kaiyuan yu wenqingmu liu yupeng zhen xiang
