Belgium chooses (again) Reynders as candidate for Council of Europe secretariat-general

Brussels – No surprises, but the formal step expected today (Jan. 10) was necessary to make it official. As reported by the Belgian daily Le Soir, at lunchtime, the Belgian government nominated the current European Commissioner for Justice, Didier Reynders, as a candidate for the post of Secretary General of the Council of Europe. In view of the expiring term currently held by Croatian Marija Pejčinović Burić, at the end of June the liberal Belgian politician will run for the second consecutive time at the helm of the international organization in Strasbourg (which is not an institution of the European Union), leaving at least momentarily his office at the Berlaymont.

His willingness to run was known for days and today the government led by Alexander De Croo confirmed that it is still endorsing Reynders, despite the defeat he suffered in 2019—when he was Belgian deputy prime minister and minister of foreign affairs and defense—at the very hands of the current Croatian secretary-general. An announcement from the Berlaymont on a probable unpaid leave of absence from the EU Commission is expected soon, to focus on a five-month-long process of confrontation with other candidates for the Council of Europe secretariat-general. The names of the challengers (at least one more is needed) are expected to be known in the coming hours, and if Reynders makes it all the way through the process, he will have to win the support of a majority of the Council of Europe’s 46 member states. In the scenario in which he finally succeeds in being elected as secretary-general, it is not yet known whether he will hold his office at the Berlaymont until the new European Commission takes office, or whether he will instead leave before he takes office at the end of September, following the example of several of his colleagues.

In addition to Reynders, all the Berlaymont farewells

Commissioner Reynders is the latest name in a long list of farewells—temporary and otherwise—although in the worst case, he would do so when the bell rings. Either because they were not approved or because they left due to personal/electoral issues, nine commissioners have changed (or risked changing) the shape of the college as originally conceived by President von der Leyen in 2019 for the five-year term: one-third of the entire initial team, whose members will provisionally drop to 25 with the temporary leave of Urpilainen and the eventual election of Reynders as secretary-general of the Council of Europe (the commissioner is likely to opt for an unpaid leave of absence).

Members of the von der Leyen Commission appointed on 10 September 2019

The first defections came due to von der Leyen’s “levities” immediately with the presentation of her team of commissioners. The Legal Affairs Committee (Juri) of the European Parliament in late September 2019 had decided to reject the names agreed between the chairwoman of the EU executive and the governments of Romania and Hungary: The Romanian Rovana Plumb (S&D) and the Hungarian László Trócsányi (Ppe) had been deemed “not capable of exercising their functions in accordance with the treaties and the code of conduct.” Two weeks later French Sylvie Goulard had failed as well for political reprisals by MEPs against Paris. A year later, amid the Covid-19 health crisis, the Irish Trade Commissioner, Phil Hogan, had been “pinched” for not complying with the confinement rules, and the Dublin government had pushed him to resign: his post was taken over by Vice President Valdis Dombrovskis, while Irish Mairead McGuinness took over as portfolio head for Financial Services.

All other defections came in 2023. First was the Bulgarian Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education, and Youth, Mariya Gabriel, who resigned in mid-May to aim for the post (then attained) of deputy prime minister and foreign minister in Bulgaria. Her step back had necessitated a redistribution of offices at the Berlaymont: Executive Vice-President Vestager had been given the one of Innovation and Research, while the Vice-President for European Lifestyle, Margaritis Schinas, had been given the one of Education, Culture and Youth. It all became even more complicated with the temporary leave requested and obtained from Vice-President Vestager to run as Denmark’s candidate for the presidency of the European Investment Bank (EIB): the whole package of the former Commissioner Gabriel passed to Vice-President Schinas, until the Bulgarian replacement, Iliana Ivanova, took office. On the other hand, the files under Vestager’s purview were distributed between the Commissioner for Justice, Didier Reynders (Competition), and the Commissioner for Values and Transparency, Věra Jourová (Digital Policy), until Vestager’s return on December 12.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on the day of the presentation of the College of Commissioners (September 10, 2019)

In August came the official resignation of the executive vice president responsible for the European Green Deal, Frans Timmermans, after being chosen in the Netherlands to lead the coalition formed by the center-left Labor Party and the Green Left GroenLinks ahead of the November 22 parliamentary elections. Again, von der Leyen has divided Timmermans’ mandates in two: the post of head of the European Green Deal has been given to the vice-president for Interinstitutional Relations, Maroš Šefčovič, who has also been appointed ad interim Commissioner for Climate, until the appointment of the new Dutch commissioner, Wopke Hoekstra. Finally, on November 19, the Commissioner for International Partnerships, Jutta Urpilainen, gave her willingness to stand in the presidential elections in Finland (scheduled for January 28) as a Social Democratic candidate: as of last December 2, Urpilainen is on unpaid leave and her mandate was temporarily passed to Vice-President Schinas.