The new EU commissioner from Ireland will be MEP Mairead McGuinness. She will receive the portfolio for financial services, stability, and capital markets, Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced.
The current Latvian commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis has been chosen by Von der Leyen to replace the Irish Phil Hogan as EU commissioner for Trade. Dombrovskis, who already handles Economic Affairs, has been acting commissioner for Trade since Hogan’s resignation.
Ireland had hoped that Hogan’s Irish successor would also take over his influential Trade portfolio. It is somewhat remarkable that McGuinness is now given several financial portfolios, as the other Irish candidate, Andrew McDowell, with his former role at the European Investment Bank (EIB), has better and more practical experience in this area.
It was already known that Von der Leyen wanted to appoint a female commissioner. The members of the European Parliament must now approve the changes. McGuinness has “considerable experience with EU matters,” Von der Leyen said at a press conference on Tuesday. McGuinness has been the first vice-president of the European Parliament since 2017.
Manfred Weber, chairman of the European People’s Party in the European Parliament, congratulated both appointments. He stated that with Dombrovskis they “can be sure that Europe will continue to fight for ambitious international trade agreements.”
Kathleen Van Brempt, the EU trade coordinator for the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats, tweeted that the group “would continue the fight for enforceable labor and environmental standards, with the #EUGreenDeal and fair digital trade rules” along with the new trade commissioner.
Bernd Lange, a German social-democratic MEP who leads the trade committee, said it had become an “unusual portfolio” now that Dombrovskis not only holds the influential and heavy Economic portfolio, but is also receiving a second heavy Trade portfolio.
“Good that the calls for a swift nomination were heeded; we cannot afford any standstill. To put it mildly, it is indeed an unusual portfolio,” Lange tweeted. Dombrovskis will also remain the European Commission’s representative in the EuroGroup, which brings together finance ministers of the eurozone.