European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced the new composition of the EU executive at a press conference in Brussels on Tuesday with Visegrád nations taking roles in health, trade, budget control, and international partnerships.
Health went to Hungary as Olivér Várhelyi, Budapest’s representative in the commission since 2019, moved from his previous Neighbourhood and Enlargement brief.
Piotr Serafin, a senior Polish diplomat and close confidant to Prime Minister Donald Tusk, takes up his new role overseeing the EU budget and leading on anti-fraud and public administration.
Although initially tipped for energy or trade in line with his domestic brief, Czech commissioner Jozef Síkela will lead on developing international partnerships between Brussels and third countries, while Slovakia’s Euro heavyweight Maroš Šefčovič, a former vice-president of the commission, is preferred for trade and economic security.
Former German defense minister von der Leyen has surrounded herself with a female-dominant executive team of six vice presidents — 4 women and 2 men. There are, however, 16 men to 11 women in the 27-strong commission despite attempts to ensure gender equality.
One notable absence from the composition is the European Union’s former digital tsar Thierry Breton who resigned on Monday in dramatic fashion. He later published an open letter accusing Ursula von der Leyen of ordering Paris to withdraw his nomination “for personal reasons that in no instance you have discussed directly with me.”
The commissioners must now be subject to parliamentary scrutiny ahead of a vote by MEPs to endorse the new team.
