EU Commission towards a reshuffle, three commissioners set to leave for new Parliament

Brussels – The von der Leyen Commission, post-European elections, is preparing a mini-reshuffle. Four European Commissioners were candidates to become MEPs, and they all have been elected. That means they will leave their roles to sit in the new European Parliament. Those who have put themselves forward are Adina Valean (Transport), Virginius Sinkevicius (Environment), Dubravka Suica (Democracy and Demography), and Valdis Dombrovskis (Trade and the Economy Serving People), each representing their country (Romania, Lithuania, Croatia, and Latvia, respectively).

Final figures made official the election of the four current EU commissioners, who then won a pass for the new European Parliament. As the situations requires, preparations are underway for the ritual talks with the governments, which will have to indicate replacements for the missing part of the current EU executive’s term.

For Dombrovskis, the abandonment of “Team von der Leyen” may not happen. The Latvian Prime Minister, Evika Silina, announced that she already confirmed him “to the post of European Commissioner so that government can approve the candidacy.” A choice dictated not so much by party reasons (Silina and Dombrovskis are both members of Unity, the Latvian liberal party) as much as by expediency. “His experience and knowledge are also valued in the EU institutions,” and not only at home, the Premier stressed. “It is in Latvia’s interest to strengthen its influence in Europe,” and Dombrovskis’ confirmation responds to this interest.

The same is not the case for the other three members of the College. There still is no official government investiture for Valean, Sinkevicius, and Suica, so their departure from the Commission seems inevitable. It would entail a new, further change in von der Leyen’s team, already the object of numerous ‘comings and goings’ since taking office.