The until now executive vice president of the European Commission responsible for Competition, the Danish liberal Margrethe Vestager, has announced this Tuesday that she is taking a leave of absence to be able to focus on defending her candidacy as president of the European Investment Bank (EIB), put at the who also aspires to the economic vice president of the acting Government, Nadia Calviño.
“As of today I am an official candidate to preside over the European Investment Bank. I am taking a leave of absence from the European Commission to focus on my candidacy until the appointment is decided,” Vestager announced in a video recorded and distributed on his social networks. . .
After Vestager’s decision, the head of the Community Executive, Ursula von der Leyen, has decided that the Competition portfolio falls on the Justice Commissioner, the also liberal Didier Reynders, “who will report directly to the president” and not to another vice-presidency .
“I will continue to ensure that EU competition policy and rules are vigorously applied,” said Reynders, for his part, in a statement in which he appreciated the “trust” placed in him by Von der Leyen and wishes “much success” to Vestager in his run for the EIB presidency.
Italy, Sweden and Poland have also presented candidates for the position that Vestager and Calviño are seeking to take over from Wermer Hoyer when his term as head of the EIB expires at the end of the year. In addition, the vice president of the rule of law, the liberal Vera Jourova, will take over Vestager’s files related to digital transformation. The “temporary changes” have been communicated by the European Commission to the European Parliament and the Council, according to the community institution in a statement.
Spain, which this semester holds the rotating presidency of the EU, plans to include the discussion and vote on the candidacies on the agenda of the informal meeting of Ministers of Economy and Finance (Ecofin) on September 16 and 17 in Santiago de Compostela. although the final decision corresponds to the Council of Governors of the EIB, which is made up of the same ministers, foreseeably in October.
