With the re-election of Ursula von der Leyen as president of the European Commission and the announcement of the distribution of committee seats in the European Parliament, it was a busy week in Brussels (or rather, Strasbourg, which hosted its inaugural plenary session this week).
Committee seats
After long negotiations, the distribution of seats in the European Parliament committees was finally announced this week. While most parties were ready to announce the seat distribution at the beginning of the week, the European People's Party (EPP) and the Patriots for Europe found it more difficult to finalize negotiations. On Wednesday afternoon, the EPP and Patriots also announced their seat allocations. Below is a complete breakdown:
In the past, there have been parliamentary terms in which Dutch MEPs all sat on the same committees, leaving some committees without Dutch representation. This term, however, the Dutch Europarliamentary team is well distributed among the various committees. Only two committees have no Dutch delegation at all: FISC and CONT. This is good news for Dutch companies because 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 could not finish before the elections. If the former rapporteur is re-elected, he or she stands a chance of being assigned the same report. For some dossiers, however, the rapporteur and shadow rapporteurs will change completely.
In early September, Ms. Von der Leyen is expected to present her list of candidates, including the portfolios assigned to each member state. That month, the mission letters of the Commissioners-designate will also be presented. These letters outline the ambitions of each Commissioner-designate.
October and possibly part of November are devoted to the hearings of Commissioners-designate. This is the opportunity for MEPs to critically assess the suitability of the proposed candidates for the portfolio 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 College of Commissioners will be confirmed, and work will resume. This will allow the Commission to prepare its Work Programs in December.
Why is this relevant to you?
Although the Commissioners' hearings will be somewhat distracting, work in the European Parliament will start in September (some dossiers will progress faster than others). At the same time, European Commission support will continue to work on the 2025 Work Program. In other words, if you get involved early in the European institutions, you will get an early seat at the table. And as the saying goes: if you're not at the table, you're on the menu!