Commitments Made at the Hearings of the Commissioners-Designate
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BRIEFING Commissioners-designate hearings Sep - Nov 2019/Oct 2020 Commitments made at the hearings of the Commissioners-designate Von der Leyen Commission, 2019 - 2024 October 2020 - Changes in the European Commission This document is a compilation of salient points and essential commitments made by the Vice-Presidents- and Commissioners-designate at their respective hearings before the European Parliament. It is intended to provide you with a practical and concise tool to follow-up on the efforts and actions of the future Commission. For an exhaustive list of all commitments made and positions taken by the candidates, the full verbatim report of each public hearing is available on the dedicated 2019 hearings website of the European Parliament, as are the written questions and answers. This document includes an addendum containing the commitments made at the hearings of October 2020. Policy Departments Economic Governance Support Unit Directorate-General for Internal Policies Directorate-General for External Policies PE 629.837 - October 2020 EN Commitments made at the hearings of the Commissioners-designate Von der Leyen Commission 2019 - 2024 Index Frans Timmermans ENVI 7 Executive Vice President-designate ITRE TRAN The European Green Deal Margrethe Vestager ITRE IMCO ECON 11 Executive Vice-President-designate JURI A Europe Fit for Digital Age Valdis Dombrovskis ECON EMPL 15 Executive Vice-President-designate BUDG An Economy that Works for People Josep Borrell Fontelles AFET 19 High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy/Vice-President A Stronger Europe in the World Maroš Šefčovič JURI AFCO 23 Vice-President-designate ITRE PETI Interinstitutional Relations and Foresight Věra Jourová LIBE AFCO 27 Vice-President-designate JURI Values and Transparency Dubravka Šuica AFCO 31 Vice-President-designate EMPL Democracy and Demography Margaritis Schinas CULT LIBE 35 Vice-President-designate EMPL Promoting the European Way of Life Johannes Hahn BUDG CONT 39 Commissioner-designate JURI Budget and Administration Phil Hogan INTA 43 Commissioner-designate Trade Mariya Gabriel ITRE CULT 47 Commissioner-designate Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth Nicolas Schmit EMPL 51 Commissioner-designate ECON Jobs and Social Rights Paolo Gentiloni ECON 55 Commissioner-designate BUDG EMPL Economy Janusz Wojciechowski AGRI 59 Commissioner-designate ENVI Agriculture Elisa Ferreira REGI 63 Commissioner-designate BUDG ECON Cohesion and Reforms Oliver Várhelyi AFET 67 Commissioner-designate Neighbourhood and Enlargement Stella Kyriakides ENVI 71 Commissioner-designate AGRI Health and Food Safety Didier Reynders JURI LIBE 75 Commissioner-designate IMCO Justice Adina-Ioana Vălean TRAN 79 Commissioner-designate ENVI Transport Helena Dalli FEMM EMPL 83 Commissioner-designate LIBE Equality Thierry Breton IMCO ITRE 87 Commissioner-designate CULT JURI Internal Market Ylva Johansson LIBE 91 Commissioner-designate Home Affairs Janez Lenarčič DEVE 95 Commissioner-designate ENVI Crisis Management Jutta Urpilainen DEVE 99 Commissioner-designate International Partnerships Kadri Simson ITRE 103 Commissioner-designate ENVI Energy Virginijus Sinkevičius ENVI PECH 107 Commissioner-designate Environment, Oceans and Fisheries Addendum Mairead McGuinness ECON 112 Commissioner-designate Financial Services, Financial Stability and the Capital Markets Union Valdis Dombrovskis INTA 116 Executive Vice-President/Commissioner-designate AFET, ECON, DEVE, BUDG Trade BRIEFING Commissioners-designate hearings September - November 2019 Commitments made at the hearing of FRANS TIMMERMANS Executive Vice President-designate European Green Deal The Executive Vice President-designate, Frans Timmermans, appeared before the European Parliament on 08 October 2019 to answer questions put by MEPs from the Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety (ENVI). During the hearing, he made a number of commitments which are highlighted in this document. These commitments refer to his portfolio, as described in the mission letter sent to him by Ursula von der Leyen, President-elect of the European Commission, including: . A European Green Deal; and . Climate action. Please note that the quotes included in this document only make reference to oral commitments made during the hearing. The verbatim report of the public hearing is available on the Commissioners-designate hearings website. The Executive Vice President-designate was also sent some written questions in advance of the hearing to which he provided written answers. Policy Department for Economic, Scientific and Quality of Life Policies Authors: Georgios Amanatidis, Zsuzsanna Laky Directorate-General for Internal Policies PE 638.437 - November 2019 EN IPOL EXPO | Policy Departments, Economic Governance Support Unit European Green Deal our international climate diplomacy and implementing the Sustainable Development Goals.” “[...] the European Green Deal must put Europe on the Just Transition Fund right track to a sustainable future, and ensure that every European is on board and that no one is left behind. Our “We need a dedicated Just Transition Fund to support ambition is to make Europe the world’s first climate- the people and communities most affected, including neutral continent. We can achieve this by 2050 if we those in industrial, coal and energy-intensive regions.” plan well and start straight away.” “[...] all of us have to have consistent, coherent plans [...] “It is our task to demonstrate clearly and concretely to we need to finance things also where [...] there are no our citizens that the Green Deal can help solve market forces which would do that and we need to step problems and improve life for them now, and not just in.” 20 or 30 years down the road. “ “So, that is what we want to put in the Just Transition “National initiatives and local jobs, backed by public Fund: a mix of fresh money combined with co-financing and private financing and European support nationally, also linking to the different funds we already programmes, to share knowledge and capacity. That is, have – whether it’s the Agricultural Fund, the Structural in my view, how a European Green Deal can work Fund, the Cohesion Fund – and also making sure that directly for the people.” there is, through the help of the EIB that has been extremely successful in InvestEU, that there is a huge “[...] I think one of the most complicated tasks I’ll have to access to funds to make this transition to the green face is to make sure that there is joined-up thinking, economy.” there is consistency there [in our policies] [...]. I am under no illusions that I am going to be able to take the 100 “It is absolutely clear that for this transition, especially in days and sort everything out. But to identify where those countries still heavily dependent on coal, we will there is a lack of consistency and then move on to come need much, much bigger funds than even what a Just up with steps and legislation that need to be taken to Transition Fund can muster. But it’s also absolutely clear eliminate these inconsistencies, that I think would be a to me that there is no future in coal.” very complicated task and yet one of the most Protecting biodiversity important tasks I face in my portfolio.“ “[...] we will present a robust and ambitious biodiversity “[...] reducing greenhouse gases, reducing the increase strategy for 2030 and [...] the EU must champion the in temperature, global warming, attacks on proceeding most ambitious commitments possible at the next UN with biodiversity are things which go together and Conference of the Parties on Biodiversity in China in which are now a matter of urgency.” October 2020.” “We’ll certainly work on a hydrogen strategy because I “What I want to do is to engage with the scientific also believe Europe can really lead on this. We would community to make sure that we’re able to find some still have an advantage vis-à-vis other parts of the world benchmarks against which we can then devise our if we speeded up. I also believe in it because you have policies, and we need to do this before we go to no energy loss when you store energy in hydrogen.” Beijing.” 2030 Emission Reduction Target “So I want the European Union to be extremely well “I will also start work immediately to deliver a higher prepared, through an intensive dialogue with this level of ambition for 2030. As soon as possible, I will put Parliament, for the next biodiversity conference [...] so forward legislative proposals that will help us to reduce that we have concrete proposals on the table to try and emissions by at least 50%, or even better, by 55%.” convince the rest of the world that we now need to take urgent action on safeguarding our biodiversity.” “But I think my position will be stronger if I can back it up with the analysis we are doing right now. [...] Again, “We need a strategy for reforestation, and refore station however, let me be clear: I would be extremely surprised in a way that does not contradict other goals. [...] So we if the outcome of this were anything other than at least have to look at this in a sensible way and I think the only a 55% reduction by 2030.” way we can do that is to have a Europe-wide strategy to help reforestation.” Lead international negotiations “We need to work to convince others to step up their ambition as well. I am fully committed to strengthening PE 629.837 Commitments made at the hearings of the Commissioners-designate “[...] consumers need to be better informed. [...] I w ant prevention. We must reduce, reuse and recycle to to be able to tell them, at some point, this [product] is unlock all its potential for a low-carbon economy. We deforestation-free. We can’t say that today. So we need will propose a new Circular Economy Action Plan, to work with our international partners to make that focusing on sustainable products and resource use, happen in the future, because now 80% of especially in resource-intensive sectors, such as textiles deforestation is a consequence of the search for new and construction.” arable land to create new foodstuffs and sometimes it’s Farm to Fork strategy for sustainable food the food we import directly.