European Commission to be voted tomorrow
Update: The European Parliament has overwhelmingly approved the new European Commission. This finally clears the way for the 27 commissioners to take office.
On Tuesday 9 February, the European Parliament in Strasbourg is expected to vote on the Barroso II Commission. MEPs may elect or reject the new College of Commissioners, which will hold office for the next five years. Parliament will also vote on a resolution on a new cooperation agreement between the European Parliament and the European Commission and on resolutions by the political groups setting out their views of the Commission.
On 27 November 2009, EU Commission President José Manuel Barroso revealed his "new team" - the 27 Commissioner-designates and the portfolios they were expected to be assigned. The Commissioner-designates had to be approved by the European Parliament in hearings with MEPs which took place in the week of 11 January 2010. Tomorrow's vote is the last step before the new Commissioners in principle take office on 10 February 2010.
Portfolios: three new ones and a few changes
Three new Commissioner portfolios have been created by Barroso for this 2010-2014 Commission. These include a commissioner responsible for justice, fundamental rights and citizenship, a commissioner for Home Affairs (internal affairs and migration) and another one for "climate action".
The new justice portfolio is the first of its kind in EU history. The majority of European Commission portfolios have evolved in line with changes to the EU's competencies. The Justice and home affairs portfolio in particular will now be split into two, one for home affairs and one for justice, fundamental rights and citizenship, following the request of European liberals to reflect the increased emphasis on citizens' rights. The latter portfolio will encompass policy areas such as the free movement of citizens, family law, penal law, consumer rights, EU communication policy, gender equality and anti-discrimination legislation.
The Commissioner-designate for the new portfolio on Justice, fundamental rights and citizenship is Luxemburg's outgoing Commissioner Viviane Reding.
Some further changes were announced within some portfolios, namely:
- The Pharmaceutical Products and Cosmetics Units move from DG Enterprise and Industry (ENTR) to DG SANCO, consequently the European Medicines Agency comes under the Health and Consumer portfolio;
As far as EHFCN is concerned, the new Commissioners-designates who are most likely to tackle the topic of healthcare fraud and corruption are:
- John Dalli (Malta): Health and Consumer Policy
Maltese Commissioner-designate John Dalli was born in 1948 in Malta. Dalli has considerable financial and economic expertise having served three times as Maltese finance minister. He has also briefly held the post of foreign minister. From March 2007 to date he has served as minister for social policy, a portfolio in line with his current designation.
At the hearing held in the European Parliament in January, Dalli stated that the guiding principle of his mandate would be emancipating consumers through information and declared that if confirmed he would be "the guardian of consumers' interests in the college of commissioners". His underlying idea was that the EU executive and member states need to do their utmost to inform citizens and not indoctrinate them. This nonetheless requires solid and unbiased scientific evidence. He gave the example of food labeling, stating that he does not want to tell European citizens what to eat, but what they are eating."
Tested by MEPs on quality and safety in respect to health and food policies, Dalli showed no complacency over counterfeited foods and medicines: "I consider bogus products as fraud, and we should act accordingly."
Dalli promised to pour his energies on patient mobility and stated that he had already contacted the Spanish health minister to discuss possible ways forward.
Questioned on the so-called 'pharma package', a thick dossier composed of five directives which include information on prescribed medicines and the fight against falsified drugs, Dalli called for the proposal to be unbundled, allowing for quick progress on the issues where consensus can easily be built and leaving the most divisive issues to be tackled separately.
Asked to whom he would give a voice if a conflict was to emerge between the pharma industry and consumers, Dalli stressed his allegiance to consumers. Nonetheless, he noted that a strong pharmaceutical sector is in the interests of European citizens since companies need to be in a position to invest in research and be at the forefront of combating diseases.
MEPs also questioned him as to which illnesses he would prioritise. He stated that in line with the mission entrusted to him by the Treaty, he would be tackling first and foremost horizontal issues such as obesity, alcoholism, drug and tobacco-related problems.
- Viviane Reding (Luxembourg): Justice, Fundamental Rights and Citizenship
Viviane Reding is the Luxembourg commissioner who held the information society portfolio in the Barroso I Commission (2004-2009).
At her hearing, Viviane Reding said that reinforcing citizens' fundamental rights, including data protection would be top of her list of priorities. Notably, she said she was opposed to the compulsory introduction of body scanners at EU airports. "Our need for security cannot justify every invasion of privacy," Reding said, adding that citizens are human beings, not objects. It should be optional for airports to install such measures, she argued, adding: "We should never be driven by fear."
Responding to questions from centre-left MEPs, Reding also claimed she would enhance privacy measures in any future agreement on data protection with the United States.
In a further statement of intent, Reding said she would issue a green paper in early 2010 on the free movement of cross-border civil documents, the idea being to make it easier to get married or divorced across EU national boundaries. This has been a growing problem in the 27-member bloc. 20% of all EU divorces have a cross-border dimension, she argued, adding that related legal documents such as inheritance rights and authentic acts face similar problems.
Reding stressed that "we must work towards a system of EU civil justice".
- Algirdas Šemeta (Lithuania): Taxation and Customs Union, Audit and Anti-Fraud
Šemeta took over the position of Commissioner for Financial Programming and Budget in July 2009 when the former Commissioner, Dalia Grybauskaité was elected President of Lithuania. She personally recommended Šemeta as her replacement.
Tackling fraud and reducing spending errors, improving the code of conduct for Commissioners, harmonising the corporate tax base and VAT calculation rules, pushing forward "green" taxes and electronic customs - these are some of the proposals addressed during the hearing of the Lithuanian commissioner-designate Algirdas Šemeta. If confirmed, his duties will include taxation, customs, audit and combating fraud.
Questioned about the future status of the EU Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF), Mr Šemeta told MEPs that "efforts to tackle fraud, both in the field of EU expenditure as well as taxes or customs duties, will always be at the centre of my attention." He said he wanted to find the best way to externalise the anti-fraud office but that the key point was OLAF's independence and efficiency. He said EU citizens don't "care very much about the institutional setting of the OLAF, but they care about its activities". External agencies could be very efficient, he added.
ON the topics of taxation, "tax havens" and banking secrecy, Mr Šemeta said he wanted to remove "barriers and obstacles to free movement of goods and services" as well as avoid double taxation. At the same time he promised to focus on proposals for a common consolidated corporate tax base (CCCTB), a simplification of the tax system and harmonisation of tax calculation rules. With regards to “tax havens” Mr Šemeta intended to initiate agreements with countries including Lichtenstein, Andorra and Switzerland to prevent tax revenue being lost. Harmful practices, such as profit shifting, should be fought against.
Mr Semeta stated that "The energy taxation directive is one of my first priorities", and promised to encourage innovation to strengthen energy efficiency and environmental protection. He also said he would modernise customs, encouraging the development of e-customs and making use of information technologies" and he would "save time and money for enterprises and citizens".
Finally, asked about his plans to combat counterfeiting, especially that of medicinal products, Mr Šemeta replied that the Commission would develop risk analysis systems and ensure good sharing of information among Member States.
Sources: www.europarl.europa.eu; www.euractiv.com, Fleishman Hillard, Impact. Outcomes. Results.
Any further information:
The European Commission's procedure in detail: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/hearings/procedure/default.htm?language=EN