On 16 July 2019, the European Parliament approved the nomination of Mrs. Ursula von der Leyen as a President of the European Commission 2019-2024. Von der Leyen was the first woman to be elected President of the European Commission.
“We will do it the European way” is the motto of Ursula von der Leyen setting ambitious political agenda for Europe. In the upcoming five years of her presidency, she has made a firm political commitment to working closely with the European Parliament on current issues. Von der Leyen has advocated for fighting climate change, building a fair social market economy and designing a program on digital Europe. Von der Leyen has big political ambitions focused on strengthening European democracy and leadership [European Commission, 2019].
Von der Leyen’s ambitions are not only set on the political agenda but also exist in the establishment of the new team of commissioners. The future Commission President has advocated for gender equality in the distribution of jobs. She has successfully achieved gender balance in her team of commissioners that contains, including herself, 13 women and 14 men [Reuters, 2019].
Von der Leyen has announced her intention to lead a modern, agile and well-balanced Commission that works with determination on current issues. She believes that her team of commissioners will stand up for the European values and will commit itself to developing sustainable policies President elected Von der Leyen held out considerable hopes about the approval of her future Commission on September 26. Although the new Commission was expected to be approved at the Parliamentary hearings, many political figures and the public were surprised at the rejection of three candidates for Commissioners by the European Parliament. Why did the members of the European Parliament voted against these candidates? Each of them was criticised for the lack of specialist knowledge of their portfolio, vague answers, as well reluctance to make clear commitments and concerns on their integrity. According to the Parliament Legal Affairs Committee, these candidates were rejected because of the existence of conflict of interests in relation to the assigned portfolio and their past and present activities [Gotev, 2019].
The nomination of the Hungarian Commissioner in charge of Enlargement and Neighourhood Policy raised some concerns on his past record when dealing with these two policies. As a former Minister of Justice of Hungary, László Trócsányi has shown close relations with Prime Minister Viktor Orban. While Trócsányi was part of Orban’s cabinet of ministers, he used to enact laws perceived as contributing to the undermining of the rule of law in Hungary. His actions led the EU Commission to raise concerns about the reforms of the judicial system in Hungary. In this context, Trócsányi’s suitability for future Commissioner was questioned by the members of the European Parliament and of the Hungarian opposition [Tyska, 2019].
Why would the nomination of László Trócsányi as Neighborhood Policy and Enlargement Commissioner have been a bad idea for EU dipomacy ?
The first reason is Russia. The EP Legal Affairs Committee suspected that László Trócsányi, as Commissioner would pledge allegiance to the Russian government and will be working to keep the good relations between Hungarian and Russian relations. The committee was especially concerned with Trócsányi’s past dealings with Russia [Eder & Bayer, 2019]. The former Hungarian Minister of Justice approved the extradition of Russian arm dealers to Russia, who were previously requested for an extradition to the U.S. As explanation, Laszló Trócsányi claimed that his decision was based on all the related legal provisions and international agreements. Since then the US authorities have questioned Hungary’s commitment to law enforcement cooperation. In fact, the extradition case led the Parliament Legal Affairs Committee to think that similar scenarios may happen in the field the Neighborhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations. In conclusion, the Committee did not approve the Hungarian candidate. In his defense, Trócsányi accused the Committee of punishing Hungary for not implementing EU decisions with respect to refugees when dealing with the so-called migrations crisis [Tyska, 2019].
The second reason relates to Hungary’s views on EU enlargement. In the last three years, Hungary has blatantly violated EU values (rule of law, democracy and human rights) and principles. Nominated as a Commissioner of Neighbourhood Policy and Enlargement, László Trócsányi was expected to conduct policies more in line with Hungarian interests than with EU’s objectives in these fields. Trócsányi was is known for his ambition to strengthen Hungary’s economic and political role in the Balkans. The Hungarian government has invested in the financial and energy sectors in the Balkan particularly in Serbia, Macedonia and Albania. This meant that Trócsányi might have sought to defend Hungarian interests in the negotiations on EU accession with the Western Balkan countries over EU ones. Another concern for the Parliament Legal Affairs Committee related to Trócsányi’s approval to granting asylum to the former Prime minister of the Republic of Northern Macedonia, Nikola Gruevski, who had been sentenced on corruption charges in his country [Tyska, 2019].
The third reason relates to the Eastern Partnership. In this issue, Trócsányi. was also expected to promote Hungarian positions such as supporting the autonomy of the Zakarpattia province that is populated by an important Hungarian minority. In addition, the Parliament Legal Affairs Committee suspected that under his close relation with Orban, the future Hungarian Commissioner would question the Ukraine – EU Association Agreement. For example, the Orban government blocked Ukraine – NATO talks when Ukraine restricted the rights of the Hungarian minority in Zadkarpattia to receive education in their native language. Therefore, fears arose that Trócsányi might have pushed for a EU withdrawal from its agreement with Ukraine [Tyska, 2019].
Despite being rejected as a nominee for EU Commissioner for Enlargement and Neighourhood Policy Orban reassured the EU that Trócsányi was the most competent and prepared Hungarian politician to be appointed for the position. However, the members of the European Parliament disagreed. Viktor Orban could not defend his candidate except for saying that Trócsányi protected his country from the migration pressure facing the European Union. Consequently, Orban proposed another candidate as future Commissioner in the name of Olivér Várhelyi, current Ambassador of Hungary to the European Union.
Unlike László Trócsányi’s reputation, Várhelyi has been known for his competence on EU issues and respect for EU diplomacy. During his parliamentary hearings, Várhelyi advocated for working intensely to open negotiations with North Macedonia and Albania, and expressed his support to the Eastern Partnership countries in their commitments to implement structural reforms as well for keeping Ukraine’s territorial sovereignty. Várhelyi also emphasized the importance of setting an agenda that would help ensure the rule of law and fundamental rights in the Western Balkan countries [European Parliament, 2019].
On November 27, the European Parliament approved the von der Leyen Commission for the upcoming five years of her presidency. Despite the controversial nomination of the first Hungarian candidate, the second candidate showed his intention to work in the interests of the European Union and its diplomacy.
REFERENCES
Eder, F. & Bayer, L. [2019]. Russia concerns fueled rejection of Hungary’s Commission nominee 27 September.Link:: https://www.politico.eu/article/laszlo-trocsanyi-russia-concerns-fueled-rejection-of-hungary-commission-nominee-romania-rovana-plumb/
European Commission [2019]. The von der Leyen Commission: for a Union that strives for more.10 September. Link: https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/IP_19_5542
European Parliament [2019]. Hearing of Commissioner-designate Olivér Várhelyi: News: European Parliament. November. Link:https://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/en/press-room/20191112IPR66317/hearing-of-commissioner-designate-oliver-varhelyi.
Gotev, G. [2019]. Romanian, Hungarian Commissioner nominees rejected 26 September. Link: https://www.euractiv.com/section/future-eu/news/romanias-commissioner-designate-plumb-sinks-before-the-hearings/
Reuters [2019]. EU executive confirms gender balance in new Commission, 9 September.Link:https://www.reuters.com/article/us-eu-jobs/eu-executive-confirms-gender-balance-in-new-commission-idUSKCN1VU12Z
Tyska, F. [2019]. Controversy over the Hungarian candidate to the European Commission. OSW Analyses 18 September. Link: https://www.osw.waw.pl/en/publikacje/analyses/2019-09-18/controversy-over-hungarian-candidate-to-european-commission