Slovak Maros Sefcovic will immediately take over the duties of departing European Commissioner Frans Timmermans. In a press statement this Tuesday, the European Commission announced that the Slovak European Commissioner will be responsible for European climate policy in the near future. Former diplomat Sefcovic is one of the longest-serving European Commissioners and is currently responsible for interinstitutional relations.
Sefcovic will replace Timmermans as Vice President of the European Commission. He will also be responsible for the overview of the Green Deal and responsibility for climate policy. Whether he will keep the latter position is still uncertain: it depends on who will be the new Dutch European Commissioner and what position Commission President Ursula von der Leyen will grant that person. In a letter, Von der Leyen has asked outgoing Prime Minister Mark Rutte to come up with a candidate quickly. After that, the European Parliament will put the new Dutch candidate-European Commissioner to the test during a hearing. MEPs must then also agree with him or her.
The rumor mill about the replacement of Timmermans has been running for a while now. Among other things, the names of outgoing ministers Sigrid Kaag (Finance, D66) and Kajsa Ollongren (Defence, D66) and of Timmermans’ chief of cabinet and former PvdA leader Diederik Samsom are circulating in Brussels. What the portfolio of the new Dutch European Commissioner will be remains uncertain for the time being.
Officially elected leader
Earlier this Tuesday, Timmermans was officially elected party leader of the cooperating parties PvdA and GroenLinks and he subsequently submitted his resignation as European Commissioner. The PvdA member has been a member of the European Commission since the end of 2014 and has been responsible for European climate policy since 2019.
In a statement, President Von der Leyen thanked Timmermans for his “passionate and tireless commitment” to European climate policy. “Thanks to his excellent contribution and strong personal involvement, we have made great progress in achieving the EU’s goals of becoming the first climate-neutral continent and in raising climate ambitions globally.”
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Timmermans is leaving less than a year before the European elections and while the bulk of the climate legislation from his portfolio has been completed. Nevertheless, his departure from Brussels creates headaches for the continuation of European climate plans, especially in the run-up to the crucial international climate conference in Dubai this autumn, where new international agreements must be made. In addition, the European Commission must come up with a new climate target for 2040 at the beginning of 2024 and there are still controversial proposals for greening agriculture that have not been completed.