{"id":370637,"date":"2024-06-17T23:36:30","date_gmt":"2024-06-17T21:36:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/2024\/06\/17\/slovacchia-sefcovic-commissario-candidato\/"},"modified":"2024-06-21T14:07:00","modified_gmt":"2024-06-21T12:07:00","slug":"sefcovic-slovakia-eu-commissioner","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/2024\/06\/17\/sefcovic-slovakia-eu-commissioner\/","title":{"rendered":"After Dombrovskis, it’s time for \u0160ef\u010dovi\u010d. Slovakia reconfirms its EU Commissioner candidate"},"content":{"rendered":"

Brussels – While the attention of EU leaders is all on the nominations of senior officials of Union institutions<\/a> at the informal summit held today (June 17), a little appetizer comes from Slovakia. “On the occasion of the informal meeting of EU leaders, I will inform our European partners that Slovakia’s candidate for our next European Commissioner is the current EU Commission Executive Vice-President, Maro\u0161 \u0160ef\u010dovi\u010d<\/strong>,” Slovak president, Peter Pellegrini<\/strong>\u00a0said<\/a>, entering\u00a0the Europa Palace. \u0160ef\u010dovi\u010d thus becomes the second member of the current von der Leyen cabinet to be reappointed by his government in the formation of the next European Commission.<\/p>\n

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\"Ursula<\/a>
From left: Executive Vice President for Green Deal and Inter-institutional Relations, Maro\u0161 \u0160ef\u010dovi\u010d, and European Commission President, Ursula von der Leyen<\/figcaption><\/figure>
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“The nomination is based on his long-term excellent professional track record<\/strong> and\u00a0invaluable experience,” continued Pellegrini — who replaced Slovakia’s Prime Minister, Robert Fico<\/strong>, recovering from the assault<\/a>\u00a0suffered in May — and reiterating that “it is also an expression of continuity and appreciation for his solid position within the Commission.” In the event of reappointment, \u0160ef\u010dovi\u010d would thus reach his fourth consecutive term<\/strong>: after serving as acting Commissioner for Education, Culture, Multilingualism, and Youth (between 2009 and 2010), the Slovak politician was appointed Vice-President for Inter-Institutional Relations and Strategic Perspectives in the Barroso II Commission (2010-2014), Commissioner for the Energy Union in the Juncker Commission (2014-2019), and Vice President for Inter-institutional Relations and Strategic Perspectives in the von der Leyen Commission (2019-2024), also taking over as Executive Vice President for the European Green Deal after the departure of his Dutch colleague, Frans Timmermans<\/strong>, in 2023.<\/p>\n

It was the current Social Democratic members of the red-brown government coalition in Slovakia<\/a>\u00a0that was\u00a0responsible for \u0160ef\u010dovi\u010d’s first appointment and subsequent two confirmations at the Commission: in both 2009 and 2014, the current PM Fico was in office, while the last time, in 2019, the head of government in Bratislava was the current President Pellegrini, who, in 2024, in another capacity, took responsibility for the announcement. \u0160ef\u010dovi\u010d has been a member of Fico<\/strong>‘s Smer-Ssd party since 1999, and in Brussels,\u00a0Slovakia’s choice of candidates in the future team of European Commissioners\u00a0seemed almost a foregone conclusion. Opening the waltz\u00a0of candidates last week was Latvian Premier Evika Sili\u0146a<\/strong>, who announced\u00a0<\/a>the confirmation of the EU Commission’s current Executive Vice-President for the Economy, Valdis Dombrovskis<\/strong>, for another five years at the Commission\u00a0in the College of European Commissioners. Pending decisions by the 27 EU leaders on the appointments, the current EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen<\/strong> is in pole position<\/a> to succeed herself, with Germany backing her after the outcome of the European elections<\/a> and given the new balance between the parties that will form the new majority in the EU Parliament.<\/p>\n

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\"Ursula<\/a>
EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/figure>\n

According to<\/a> the EU Treaties, European Commissioners – one for each member country – are appointed by agreement between the EU Commission Presidency and the member states<\/strong>, which suggests them based on\u00a0“general competence,” “European commitment,” and “guarantees of independence.” The Council of the European Union adopts the list of Commissioners, who\u00a0must also pass the European Parliament vote<\/a>.\u00a0Therefore, it is not only the political composition of the government nominating its candidate that should be considered but also the majority that supports the\u00a0Commission in\u00a0the European Parliament. In other words, a government unbalanced to the right will not be able to overlook the fact that it will have to cash in on the approval of the center-left as well: this is the case, for example, of Giorgia Meloni’s Italian government, which will have to look for a name that is also acceptable\u00a0for the Democratic Party<\/strong>, which in the new legislature constitutes the largest delegation <\/a>within the group of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats (S&D).<\/p>\n