After days of speculation and a feverish summer of negotiations with the member states, Ursula von der Leyen has announced the composition of the new European Commission: 20 commissioners, six vice presidents and a president – including 11 women and 16 men – will make up the new EU executive whose main task is to propose legislation, act as an executive (especially on matters of exclusive EU competence) and ensure compliance with the rules that unite the world’s largest trading bloc.

Below is a graphic with the framework of the new Commissioners and the related DGs, which can help better grasp whose competencies belong beside the designations used. Despite efforts, in terms of gender balance, it represents a step back, with only 11 women — one fewer than in the previous term.

EPP rules them all

The team presented in Strasbourg by Ursula von der Leyen reflects the result of June’s political elections in its internal balances: the representatives of the centre-right EPP get the most portfolios. Of 27 Commissioners, 15 belong to this political family (14 + von der Leyen herself). Majority in the Parliament and even more so in the College of Commissioners; this shows how crucial the EPP will be in determining the political direction of the European institutions in the next legislature.

Let’s get digital

Digital issues are prominently featured across 11 Commissioner portfolios, signalling their importance for the new executive. However, this wide distribution will inevitably require strong coordination. For instance, advancing legislation on addictive online design will require collaboration between DG SANTE and DG CNECT.

Enforcement of the Digital Services Act (DSA) and Digital Markets Act (DMA) will be a central focus. Interestingly, this is paired with a commitment to long-term compliance dialogues with Big Tech companies. Could this signal a shift towards a more collaborative approach based on ongoing compliance rather than headline-grabbing enforcement actions? Time is gentleman, but it is safe enough to say that the turbulent exclusion of Thierry Breton can be read in this sense, besides sensationalism and gossip.

There’s a welcome push to simplify rules and reduce administrative burden by 25%. However, it’s worth noting that similar past initiatives, like the European Commission’s 2019 “One in, one out” approach, haven’t gained much traction. We will see if legislation is advanced on the matter this time, exploiting the momentum created by Draghi’s report on competitiveness.

You shall not pass

The new EU executive’s portfolio list also includes three new roles: a European Commissioner for Defence and Security (Lithuania), a Commissioner for the Mediterranean (Croatia), and one for Housing and Energy (Denmark).

Current MEP Andrius Kubilius has already come to the fore for proposing controversial funding options for the EU defence boost: a mix of defence bonds, the European Stability Mechanism (ESM), a new mandate for the European Investment Bank (EIB), and unspent resources of the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RFF), despite the need for legal amendments to access the EU post-pandemic recovery fund passed the deadline.

In recent months, Ursula von der Leyen and her European Commission have been exploring ways to boost funding for the defence sector, though their efforts have yielded limited results so far.

Meanwhile, defence industry players are hesitant to significantly expand their production of arms and other military equipment without concrete financial commitments from the EU or individual member states.

The situation is further complicated by differing opinions among European nations. Fiscally conservative countries, particularly Germany and the Netherlands, oppose additional shared debt at the EU level. Similarly, France’s proposal to allow the European Investment Bank to fund defence projects faces opposition from other member states.

A new cohesion policy?

Italy is certainly a heavyweight in the new European Commission, which, with the appointment of Raffaele Fitto (ECR) as executive vice president, testifies that the group of Giorgia Meloni’s MEPs’ lack of support for von der Leyen in July’s Strasbourg session had no significant repercussions. Fitto’s vision of the European cohesion policy slightly differs from the current set-up: the reform that the then Minister Fitto advanced in Italy centralises the management of a policy that had a solid territorial vocation before.

However, the debate on this issue has now taken a European perspective, given the next common budget, the Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF). For some time now, there has been debate about whether the Recovery and Resilience Facility model should be adopted for the structural funds, centralising the disbursement of European funds at the state level ‘in exchange’ for national reforms demanded by Brussels. A top-down approach that is precisely opposite to the bottom-up philosophy of the current regional cohesion policy.

Time to grill

The commissioner hearings may commence in mid-October or early November but could be pushed back to early December. The timeline remains uncertain, as potential stumbles by commissioner candidates during parliamentary scrutiny could cause further delays. Given the new Parliament’s intricate political landscape, where securing a two-thirds majority will be challenging, it’s likely that numerous candidates will face a second round of hearings followed by a comprehensive committee vote.

Ursula von der Leyen will need not to alienate the Parliament this time: According to a draft Parliament report, the Commission has been sidestepping parliamentary oversight with unprecedented frequency. Since 2020, the EU’s executive body has invoked a special provision in EU treaties 14 times, allowing it to bypass Parliament’s scrutiny. This starkly contrasts with the preceding decade, when this measure was used only five times. The Commission has justified these actions by citing urgent situations such as the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine and the COVID-19 pandemic. This significant increase in bypassing parliamentary procedures has raised concerns about the balance of power between EU institutions. In July, von der Leyen promised a “closer partnership” with the Parliament: for her team to make it through, she will need it.