EC president presents next college of commissioners for 2024-2029

September 17, 2024 14:51

Ursula von der Leyen, who was recently re-elected as President of the European Commission for another five-year term, has presented the new college of European commissioners who will take their posts from November 1, given approval from the European Parliament, Report informs referring to TASS.

The EC president introduced new posts, including the commissioner for defense and space and the commissioner for enlargement who will work on supporting Ukraine.

The latter post will be held by Marta Kos. "The Government of Slovenia has suggested Marta Kos as Member of the College. <…> She will be Commissioner for Enlargement - also responsible for our Eastern neighborhood," von der Leyen said as she addressed the European Parliament in Strasbourg.

Lithuanian MEP Andrius Kubilius will be the Commissioner for Defense and Space, the EC president said. Among other things, he will work on boosting Europe’s investment and industrial capacity.

Former Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas will be the High Representative and Vice-President. "We are in an era of geostrategic rivalries and instability. Our foreign and security policy must be designed with this reality in mind," the EC president explained.

Spain’s Teresa Ribera will be responsible for the EU’s competition policy. According to von der Leyen, Ribera will guide the work to ensure that Europe decarbonizes and industrializes its economy as part of the European Green Deal.

Raffaele Fitto from Italy will be the EC’s Executive Vice-President for Cohesion and Reforms. "We will draw on his extensive experience to help modernize and strengthen our cohesion, investment and growth policies," von der Leyen maintained.

The post of the Commissioner for Energy and Housing will be held by Dan Jorgensen from Denmark. And Magnus Brunner has been proposed by Austria for the post of the Commissioner for Internal Affairs and Migration.