The summer recess is over and legislators are returning to work in Brussels. The newly elected European Parliament began its term in July, and almost all attention is now on forming the next European Commission. This is an important step in the life of the European institutions, because the European Commission is responsible for planning, drafting and proposing new European legislation.
The balance of power within the European institutions, in turn, gives the European Parliament considerable political influence, because Members of the European Parliament have to approve the candidates for the 26 Commissioner posts. It is precisely through this process that the new European Commission will decide on the future of climate, energy and environmental policy. The choice of the new Commissioners for climate, energy, industry, agriculture and the environment will be decisive for achieving and delivering the European Green Deal and its 2050 carbon neutrality target.
“Over the coming months, Ursula von der Leyen can consolidate her policy agenda by drawing up the mission letters addressed to the new Commissioners,” writes the think tank E3G. Members of the European Parliament will “be able to secure additional political commitments” from the candidates for Commissioner posts during their hearings before the parliamentary committees in September. The process of nominating the members of the next Commission will begin this week and may last until December.
What to expect in the coming weeks
The European Commission. Over the coming weeks, the main focus in Brussels will be on forming the new European Commission. It is expected that Ursula von der Leyen (Ursula von der Leyen), who was re-elected by the European Parliament as President of the European Commission, will present her chosen Commission team and their portfolios to the European Parliament on 11 September. Parliamentary deliberations are then expected from 23 September onwards. Parliament organises hearings of the candidates for Commissioner so that Members from the relevant parliamentary committees can assess the candidates’ suitability for the portfolios proposed for them – this information comes from Parliament’s press officers. The process in Parliament will conclude with a plenary vote, which is expected in the autumn and in which MEPs will have to decide whether to approve the Commission as a whole.
Executive Vice-President of the Commission Maroš Šefčovič will present the State of the Energy Union report on 11 September. The State of the Energy Union report assesses the EU’s competitiveness and industrial leadership in the new global energy context. In this connection, legislation has been signed on the electricity market design, the Net-Zero Industry Act and the Critical Raw Materials Act, which form part of the “Fit for 55” legislation and support the development of clean energy sources and stable markets across Europe.
The latest on EU policymaking – a round-up of the past month
Spain and Denmark. Shortly before the deadline of 30 August set by Ursula von der Leyen, Spain and Denmark put forward their candidates for European Commissioner. Spain nominated its Minister for Energy and the Environment, Teresa Ribera. The Reuters news agency reported that Ribera has led Spain’s green agenda since 2018, arguing for an ambitious transition to an economy that produces no carbon dioxide emissions. The Kingdom of Denmark nominated as its national candidate for Commissioner Dan Jørgensen, the centre-left Minister for Development Cooperation and Global Climate Policy. He is a former Member of the European Parliament and previously held the post of Danish Minister for Energy and Climate. Both candidates have been significant European Union negotiators at the COP climate talks.
Austria. Vienna has finally submitted its plan for meeting the European climate targets or, in the political language of the European Union, its National Energy and Climate Plan (NECP). The main focus is on abolishing subsidies for activities that harm the climate. An NECP has to set out how each Member State will help to achieve the European targets for renewable energy, energy efficiency and the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions by 2030. The deadline set by the European Commission for countries to submit their NECPs was 30 June 2024. By that date, only four Member States had submitted their plans – Denmark, the Netherlands, Finland, the Netherlands and Sweden.
Non-governmental organisations – the Climate Action Network Europe (CAN) and the Global Legal Action Network (GLAN) consider the greenhouse gas emission limits set for EU countries to be unlawful. They have taken the European Commission to court. In their concluding document, the NGOs claim that the European executive has set unlawful annual emission limits for each EU country up to 2030 in the buildings, agriculture, waste, industry and transport sectors, which cover only around 57% of total EU-27 greenhouse gas emissions. The NGOs consider that the legislation is still inadequate and is steering the EU’s overall climate goals away from the 1.5 °C limit set in the Paris Agreement. The court plans to give the case priority.