New European Commission debuts amid homegrown, external challenges
T
he European Parliament (EP) has approved the new team of the European Commission, led by Germany's Ursula von der Leyen, who will serve her second five-year term as president.
Analysts suggest that as the EU's executive body, the Commission faces domestic and international governance challenges. Domestically, it must address the declining economic competitiveness in Europe, while internationally, it urgently needs to strengthen the EU's strategic autonomy. European lawmakers approved the new 27-member, right-leaning executive team with 370 votes in favor, 282 against, and 36 abstentions. The Commission is set to begin its five-year term on Sunday.
While von der Leyen, representing the European People's Party (EPP) of the EP, secured her second term as Commission president in July, the selection process for the remaining 26 commissioners was fraught with challenges. Her proposed list aimed to balance gender, political affiliations, and member state representation but encountered significant hurdles. Between Nov. 4 and 12, the EP held hearings to evaluate the qualifications of each commissioner-designate. Disputes emerged particularly over two executive vice-president-designates -- Italy's Raffaele Fitto from the far-right Brothers of Italy party, and Teresa Ribera, Spanish minister for ecological transition and demographic challenge.
The Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats (S&D), another party of the EP, strongly objected to Fitto's nomination, accusing von der Leyen of pandering to far-right political forces. Meanwhile, members of the EPP from Spain opposed Ribera, criticizing her response to recent floods in Valencia, which claimed over 200 lives. These disagreements delayed the final approval of the Commission. To break the deadlock, EP leaders from the EPP, S&D, and Renew Europe convened negotiations and reached an agreement on November 20 to endorse von der Leyen's team. This consensus was crucial, as the three groups collectively controlled a majority in the 720-seat European Parliament.
Despite the approval, the new Commission has received the least support in Parliament since 1993, according to Politico. Former EP Vice President Jacek Saryusz-Wolski criticized the result, describing it on social media as "the lowest EP approval in history" and attributing it to "inter-party bargains." Amid rising geopolitical tensions and a more complex political landscape, the new European Commission faces the challenge of navigating overlapping domestic and external pressures.
Janis Emmanouilidis, deputy chief executive and director of studies of the think-tank European Policy Centre, commented at a Wednesday online seminar that the road ahead for the Commission seems even more difficult, given the challenges faced by the EU in the last decade. Internally, Europe is grappling with growing economic downturn risks, while far-right movements are gaining momentum. This rise has deepened internal divisions on issues such as immigration and the green transition, making these challenges increasingly pronounced.
A recent report on Europe's future competitiveness, authored by Mario Draghi, former Italian prime minister and former European Central Bank president, warned that the eurozone economy has stagnated with little sign of recovery. It also noted that EU member states have yet to significantly increase investment in areas such as defense, technology, and green transition or reach consensus on implementing joint EU debt mechanisms.
Externally, the protracted Russia-Ukraine conflict, the spillover effects of tensions in the Middle East, as well as Donald Trump's comeback, have all heightened Europe's geopolitical and trade risks. Von der Leyen is once again starting her mandate with "an exogenous shock to deal with," reported AFP, citing Simone Tagliapietra of Brussels-based think tank Bruegel.
The European Council adopted the Strategic Agenda 2024-2029 in June, emphasizing the need to strengthen Europe's defense and security, enhance its competitiveness, and promote economic prosperity. The new Commission's policy priorities align closely with this agenda. On Wednesday, von der Leyen addressed the EP on the next steps in her agenda, underscoring that European security will be a top priority for the Commission.
Jian Junbo, deputy director of the Center for China-Europe Relations of the Institute of International Studies at Fudan University, said the new Commission's policy will prioritize security and geopolitical competition, economic resilience and innovation, and green development, with security being the top concern. However, he noted that defense remains within the sovereign domain of member states, making it difficult for the EU to implement unified policies on defense coordination.
He Zhigao, a scholar at the Institute of European Studies of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said the EU's greatest challenge in defense lies in its reliance on the NATO framework. "As long as NATO exists, substantial progress in the EU's defense strategy remains difficult," he noted, adding that the EU's defense industry is often limited to makeshift adjustments rather than achieving a qualitative leap.
✔️ New European Commission debuts amid homegrown, external challenges
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