New EU Commissioners

The President-designate of the European Commission, José Manuel Barroso, has announced the twenty four Commissioners he hopes will be approved by the European Parliament on November 1st to serve for the next five years. Barosso has also announced changes to the way the Commission will operate including;

• 
  
• The President personally chairing the group of Commissioners on external
  relations and on the Lisbon Strategy.
• 
  
• A new job of Vice-President for institutional relations and communication
  strategy
• 
  
• A Vice-President ensuring a coherent Commission approach in the
  Competitiveness Council
• 
  
• The highest proportion of women Commissioners ever
• 
  
• Split of current portfolios: transport and energy; agriculture and
  fisheries; internal market and taxation
• 
  
• A greater use of task forces to anticipate policy issues
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• Grouping Commissioners in the same building (Berlaymont)
• 
  
• Separating financial control from budgetary affairs and appoint a
  Vice-President to oversee sound management

The Commission Line up is
Jose Manuel Barroso: president of the EU commission (Portugal)
Margot Wallstrom: vice president, commissioner for institutional relations and communications strategy (Sweden)
Gunter Verheugen: vice president,commissioner for enterprise and industry (Germany)
Jacques Barrot: vice president, commissioner for transport (France)
Siim Kallas: vice president, commissioner for administrative affairs, audit and anti-fraud (Estonia)
Rocco Buttiglione: vice president, commissioner for justice, freedom and security (Italy)
Viviane Reding: commissioner for information society and media (Luxembourg)
Stavros Dimas: commissioner for environment (Greece)
Joaquin Almunia : commissioner for economic and monetary affairs (Spain)
Danuta Hubner: commissioner for regional policy (Poland)
Joe Borg: commissioner for fisheries and maritime affairs (Malta)
Dalia Grybauskaite: commissioner for financial programming and budget (Lithuania)
Janez Potocnik: commissioner for science and research (Slovenia)
Jan Figel: commissioner for education, training, culture and multilingualism (Slovakia)
Markos Kyprianou: commissioner for health and consumers protection (Cyprus)
Olli Rehn: commissioner for enlargement (Finland)
Louis Michel: commissioner for development and humanitarian aid (Belgium)
Laszlo Kovacs: commissioner for energy (Hungary)
Neelie Kroes-Smit: commissioner for competition (Netherlands)
Marian Fischer Boel: commissioner for agriculture and rural development (Denmark)
Benita Ferrero-Waldner: commissioner external relations and European neighbourhood policy (Austria)
Charlie McCreevy: commissioner for internal market and services (Ireland)
Vladimir Spidla: commissioner for employment, social affairs and equal opportunities (Czech Republic)
Peter Mandelson: commissioner for trade (UK)
Ingrida Udre : commissioner for taxation and customs union (Latvia)

Posted by Paul in European Union Politics at August 13, 2004 02:09 AM | 4 Comments