With the re-election of Ursula von der Leyen as President of the European Commission and the announcement of the distribution of Commission seats in the European Parliament, it was a busy week in Brussels (or rather Strasbourg, where the inaugural plenary session took place this week).
Commission seats
After lengthy negotiations, the distribution of seats in the European Parliament committees was finally announced this week. While most parties were ready to announce the distribution of seats at the beginning of the week, it was more difficult for the European People's Party (EPP) and the Patriots for Europe to conclude the negotiations. On Wednesday afternoon, the EPP and Patriots also announced their seat distribution. Below is a complete overview:
In the past, there have been parliamentary terms in which Dutch MEPs all sat on the same committees, leaving a number of committees without Dutch representation. This term, however, the Dutch MEP team is well distributed across the various committees. Only two committees have no Dutch delegation at all: FISC and CONT. This is good news for Dutch companies, as almost every committee has a member who fully understands the Dutch context.
What's on the agenda?
Next week, the first decisions should be made on the allocation of files that Parliament was unable to complete before the elections. If the former rapporteur is re-elected, he or she has a chance of being assigned the same report. For some files, however, the rapporteur and shadow rapporteurs will change completely.
Ms. Von der Leyen is expected to present her list of candidates, including the portfolios assigned to each Member State, in early September. The mission statements of the candidate commissioners will also be presented that month. These statements outline the ambitions of each candidate commissioner.
October and possibly part of November will be devoted to the hearings of the candidate commissioners. This is an opportunity for Members of the European Parliament to critically assess whether the proposed candidates are suitable for the portfolios assigned to them. The hearings are serious in nature: last time, Ms. Von der Leyen had to reshuffle her team of commissioners after some candidates failed to pass the hearing.
At the end of November, the new Board of Supervisors will be confirmed and work will resume. This will enable the Commission to draw up its Work Programs in December.
Why is this relevant to you?
Although the hearings of the commissioners will be somewhat distracting, work in the European Parliament will start in September (some dossiers will progress faster than others). At the same time, the European Commission's support services will continue to work on the 2025 Work Program. In other words, if you get involved with the European institutions early on, you will get a seat at the table early on. And as the saying goes, if you're not at the table, you're on the menu!