2023-08-22 18:24:12
Frans Timmermans during a press conference on the threats of climate change and environmental degradation at European Union headquarters in Brussels on June 28, 2023 VIRGINIA MAYO / AP
The European Commission announced on Tuesday the resignation of its Vice-President in charge of the Green Deal, the Dutchman Frans Timmermans, after his nomination to head a social democratic and green list for the snap elections in the Netherlands in the fall. .
Following a consultation of members of the Labor Party (PvdA) and the Greens (GroenLinks), Mr. Timmermans, 62, was confirmed at the head of a joint list with the hope of succeeding the first outgoing minister, Liberal Mark Rutte.
The ex-diplomat with the white beard, polyglot and emblematic architect of the environmental policies of the European Union (EU), leaves his mandate less than a year before the elections of June 2024 which will renew the European Parliament and will lead to a recomposition of the Commission.
This is the second departure in a few months within the European executive: the European Commissioner for Innovation and Culture, Mariya Gabriel, left office in May to form the new government of her country, Bulgaria . And another key figure, the influential Danish competition commissioner, Margrethe Vestager, has declared herself a candidate to take over the presidency of the European Investment Bank (EIB) next year.
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The Slovakian Maros Sefcovic in the interim
In the Commission led since 2019 by conservative Ursula von der Leyen, Frans Timmermans was the architect of the ambitious Green Deal, a vast arsenal of legislation aimed at reducing carbon emissions and stemming the biodiversity crisis.
EU environmental and climate policies will be entrusted “temporarily” to another Vice-President of the Commission, the Slovak Maros Sefcovic, until the appointment of a new Dutch Commissioner. Ms von der Leyen asked Mark Rutte “to propose a new candidate”announces the press release from the Commission.
The departure of Mr. Timmermans comes a few months before COP28, a major international meeting for the climate, and while the European Green Pact remains unfinished.
While most of the climate plan has been adopted (reform of the carbon market, end of the sale of thermal engine cars in 2035, etc.), key texts are still under discussion – in particular on the reduction of pesticides and the restoration of ecosystems – in the face of fierce resistance from right-wing MEPs and certain Member States.
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“I thank Frans Timmermans for his passionate and tireless work to make the Green Deal a reality. Thanks to his strong personal commitment, we have made great progress” towards the European objective of carbon neutrality by 2050, welcomed Ursula von der Leyen on Tuesday.
A former diplomat and former foreign minister, Mr. Timmermans had been a member of the European Commission since 2014. He served his first term as vice-president of the conservative Jean-Claude Juncker, in charge of “improving regulation, inter-institutional relations, the rule of law”.
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