Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker, revealed Wednesday that the body’s climate and energy portfolios have been “reshaped and streamlined” into one portfolio. This will now be led by Spain’s former environment minister Miguel Arias Cañete.
Malta’s Karmenu Vella has been appointed as the Commissioner for the newly combined portfolios of Environment, Maritime Affairs and Fisheries.
The former Slovenian Prime Minister Alenka Bratušek has been appointed to the new position of Vice-President for the energy union department, where she will “steer and coordinate” the work of several commissioners, including Cañete and Vella.
President Juncker said: “I want to reform and reorganise Europe’s energy policy into a new European energy union.
“We need to pool our resources, combine our infrastructures and unite our negotiating power vis-à-vis third countries.
“We need to diversify our energy sources, and reduce the high energy dependency of several of our member states.”
The decision to merge the climate and energy portfolios caused 25 MEPs to write to president Juncker last week to express their opposition. They said they felt a combined portfolio could weaken the EU’s position in future climate negotiations.
However, the Commission maintained the merger would in fact strengthen action on climate change and decarbonisation by making a single commissioner responsible for boosting renewables in the energy mix, bolstering energy security, and tackling climate change.
The European Wind Energy Association (EWEA) welcomed the appointment of Cañete and Bratušek.
EWEA chief executive Thomas Becker said: “The announcement of vice president-designate Bratušek, with responsibility for energy union, shows a commitment by the Juncker presidency to make strides toward a single electricity market that places renewable energies, such as wind power, at the heart of European energy security.”
The UK’s Jonathan Hill, a former leader of the House of Lords, was expected to be named as the energy commissioner, but was given the high profile role of Commissioner for Financial Stability, Financial Services and Capital Markets Union.