Roxana Mânzatu, vice-president of the European Commission
For the first time, a Romanian has been appointed vice-president of the European Commission.
Bogdan Matei, 18.09.2024, 14:00
At the end of tense negotiations, the head of the European Commission, the German Conservative Ursula von der Leyen, on Tuesday made public the structure of the new community executive. For the first time, Romania was awarded a position of vice-president of the European Commission, which will be held by the current Social-Democrat MEP, Roxana Mînzatu. She held a temporary portfolio as Minister for Investments and European projects over June-November 2019. In Brussels, Roxana Mînzatu will oversee skills, education and culture, quality jobs, social rights and demography as the new vice-president for People, Skills and Preparedness. She believes her remit, namely the labor market, is key for the competitiveness of the Union.
“We cannot talk about Europe’s competitiveness without the people. We cannot talk about competitiveness without enough workers in all sectors and for all technologies. There is no question of competitiveness, if you are struggling with poverty, social conflicts, and young people don’t have jobs that match their skills”.
President von Der Leyen announced that, along with preserving the balanced social and security model, economic competitiveness remains one of the EU’s top priorities. The EU official also insisted on ensuring gender balance in the new College of Commissioners. Of the 27 portfolios, 11 are held by women and 16 by men. According to Radio Romania’s correspondent in Brussels, in order to strike a balance in that respect, four women and two men were nominated for the six positions of commission vice-presidents. Also to that end, three commission vice-presidents are from Eastern Europe and three from Western Europe. At the same time, pundits say, the distribution of portfolios also reflects Ursula von Der Leyen’s need to secure two-thirds of the necessary votes in the European Parliament. Thus, a position of vice-president was granted to the right-wing radicals from the European Conservatives and Reformists, who are not part of Renew, the majority popular-socialist coalition.
In Romania, the president of Roxana Mînzatu’s party, Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu, says that her nomination brings Romania to the decision-making table at EU level. The future Romanian commissioner will coordinate both the field of education and the area of social policies, as well as related financing programs, the European Social Fund or the Climate Fund, the Prime Minister added. Meanwhile, the opposition states that a truly important portfolio for Romania would have been one with more economic weight. On an ironic note, the media writes that our Hungarian neighbors, famous for their defiance towards decision-makers in Brussels, were awarded the future portfolio for Animal Welfare. (VP)
