Two commissioners with the European Commission under its President Ursula von der Leyen have resigned to take their seats in the European Parliament.
Romanian Adina-Ioana Vălean, former Commissioner of Transport whose resignation is effective as of July 15, had announced her move on July 11 in her native country.
The other EC official to depart is Lithuanian Virginijus Sinkevičius, former Commissioner for the Environment, Oceans and Fisheries, whose end of term becomes official on July 16.
Vălean is replaced by Dutch Commissioner Wopke Hoekstra who in turn succeeded Frans Timmermans when the latter left his post to run as a consensus candidate on the Left in the Dutch general elections of November 22, 2023.
Taking over Sinkevičius’ duties will be Commissioner Maroš Šefčovič, Executive Vice President for the Green Deal.
These changes are ways of filling gaps until the new Executive is formed towards the end of the year, according to the EC.
“It’s a temporary thing, they [replacements] are caretakers who don’t have specific missions,” Commission sources pointed out. “Most likely, they will not do anything special until then,” an EC source said.
Of Vălean, the source said she had “brought to the transport sector in the Commission the issue of technological innovation that did not exist before”.
“Transportation start-ups [such s Bolt, Uber, Cabify] were not present until her arrival, there was nothing like that in DG Move [the EC department for mobility and transport]”.
DG Move worked with the Climate Change Commission to study the measures to be implemented in the transport sectors – especially air transport – to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
“The airline issue is one of the most time-consuming issues in this legislature for that commissioner,” said a second EC source.
An ongoing key issue is the battle between the airlines and the Member States over baggage charges on flights, which the EC is trying to mediate.
“If the private companies want to charge for the baggage separately, the Commission will not be able to do anything to prevent it,” confirmed sources at the EC.
If any Member State fails to comply with its directives, though, the Commission will have to take the matter to the European Court of Justice. “This is a common process between Brussels and other capitals that can take years to resolve,” the source said.
Transport has been and will continue to be a portfolio of great importance in this new legislature. and the EC has confirmed that the next five years would be focused on improving competition and, to that end, “improving transport is key”.
A second Donald Trump presidency would remain “liable” for climate funding, irrespective of any decision to pull the US out of the Paris Climate Change accord, according to the lead negotiator for the 2024 United Nations Climate Change Conference. https://t.co/D5PwtnTb0m
— Brussels Signal (@brusselssignal) July 11, 2024
