Although the Eastern European countries have extended their presence in the commission and secured higher posts than before, there is no reason for Moscow to be concerned.
On September 10, Jean-Claude Juncker, President-elect of the European Commission, announced its membership for 2014-2019.
It appears that the EU executive arm has never been staffed by such impressive individuals and never promised such political efficiency since the times of Jacques Delors, who headed it in 1985-1994.
Juncker bravely withstood pressure from the EU countries and drew the commission list on his own. A strong personality aspiring to autonomy in European politics, he stands in contrast to Jose Manuel Barroso, as the leading European nations secured privileges in the commission in the later years of his presidency.
A veteran leader, Juncker was Prime Minister of Luxembourg for an unprecedented 18 years. His nationality is symbolic as his country is on the watershed of the French and Germanic worlds and, once in the limelight, would re-create the air of good old Europe.
However enfeebled France might be by economic stagnation and President Hollande’s unpopularity, it secured the appointment of former Finance Minister Pierre Moscovici as Commissioner for Economic and Financial Affairs, and so will preserve its notable position in the commission and the European Union as a whole. This appointment was made despite a certain degree of skepticism from Germany: Moscovici has put up with a budget deficit in his country and is now taking one of the three top posts in the commission.
France also backed the appointment of Italy’s Foreign Minister Federica Mogherini as EU foreign policy chief and Juncker’s deputy. Such support shows determination to counterweigh Germany’s and the Scandinavian countries’ call to Europe to tighten its belt by informal closeness with Italy’s new prime minister, the Socialist Matteo Renzi.
What does the new European Commission mean for Russia? Whatever the Russian media might allege, Donald Tusk’s presidency of the European Council will by no means counter Moscow’s interests. Tusk is not one of the archetypal Poles the way Russians see them. Of the Kashubian ethnic minority, he is not an ardent nationalist, unlike many members of Poland’s political elite. He wants bygones be bygones in the dramatic Russo-Polish history, and stood by Vladimir Putin’s side during the Katyn mourning ceremony in April 2010.
Spain’s Miguel Arias Caneta has been appointed Commissioner for Energy and Climate Change in a promise of EU neutrality on the relevant issues – all the more important in the current Ukrainian context and with tripartite talks on Ukraine underway.
Although the Eastern European countries have extended their presence in the commission and secured higher posts than before, there is no reason for Moscow to be concerned. Latvia’s Valdis Dombrovskis will be Commissioner for Euro and Social Dialogue, and Andrus Ansip of Estonia will take the post of Vice President in charge of the common digital market. Their posts might be among the essential ones but they have small bearing on Russia.
Alenka Bratusek, outgoing Slovenian Prime Minister, will lead the new Energy Union – but then, her country is not in bitter opposition to Russia.
