Von der Leyen presents the new Commission
30 September 2024
On 17 September, von der Leyen presented the 2024–2029 European Commission (link). The structure of the new College, led by the Commission President and six Executive Vice-Presidents and comprising 26 Commissioners, is based on the political guidelines presented by von der Leyen in mid-July (link). As recommended in the Draghi report, the new structure is intended to overcome rigid ‘silos’. This also applies to work within the knowledge triangle of research, innovation and education, which will no longer fall within the remit of a single Commissioner.
For instance, the Romanian Social Democrat Roxana Mînzatu, as the future Executive Vice-President for Skills, Competences and Preparedness, will be responsible for skills, education and culture, high-quality jobs and social rights. According to her mission letter, she will address these issues within the framework of the so-called “Union of Skills”, focusing on the European Education Area, strengthening Erasmus+, continuing work on the European Higher Education Qualification as a flagship for high-quality learning mobility, and supporting European University Alliances.
It will also prepare an initiative on the portability of qualifications to make progress on the recognition of qualifications. Its tasks will further include presenting an action plan for STEM education and an EU agenda for teachers.
As part of a so-called Union of Justice, she will contribute to social cohesion through education and support for young people and the promotion of a sense of community, including through Erasmus+ and youth policy dialogues. In the area of social rights, she is to ensure the implementation of the European Social Fund Plus. Accordingly, she will be responsible for DG EAC and DG EMPL.
Ekaterina Zaharieva, a Bulgarian member of the centre-right GERB party, is set to be appointed Commissioner for Start-ups, Research and Innovation. “We want to put research and innovation, science and technology at the heart of our economy. She will help us to invest more and focus our funding more strongly on strategic priorities and groundbreaking innovations,” said von der Leyen.
As such, she will be responsible for strengthening Horizon Europe and its successor programme, FP10, as well as the European Innovation Council (EIC) and the European Research Council (ERC). The Commissioner will propose a legislative act on the European Research Area to overcome fragmentation and ensure that research and innovation become the “fifth fundamental freedom” of the EU single market, as called for in Letta’s high-level report. The education sector, also mentioned in the report as part of the fifth freedom, is not mentioned in the mission letter, nor in Roxana Mînzatu’s mission letter. As with the above, strengthening European university alliances also falls within Ekaterina Zaharieva’s remit.
She is supported by DG Research and Innovation, the Joint Research Centre and a task force for start-ups.
Consequently, the portfolio for education, research and innovation will no longer be held by a single minister, a move that has been and continues to be the subject of heated debate within the higher education and research sectors. European higher education associations in particular, such as the EUA (Link) and LERU (Link), had campaigned in the run-up to the decision for research, innovation and education to remain within a single portfolio. In contrast, 19 Nobel laureates wrote an open letter to von der Leyen in early September, calling for research and innovation to be handled in future by a single Commissioner in a dedicated portfolio (link).
Following the hearings of the nominated Commissioners in the European Parliament’s committees in the coming weeks, the Parliament will vote on the entire College. The new Commission can then begin its work in early December 2024 at the earliest.
