A change of direction. While she was expected to be the future European Commissioner for Climate and Environment, the Spanish Teresa Ribera obtained the Competition portfolio. She replaces the Danish Margrethe Vestager.
Ursula von der Leyen’s appointment to the new team is not a surprise. Throughout the summer, she was in contact with the President of the European Commission, with a view to a possible appointment. However, their relationship is far from idyllic.
Last May, Teresa Ribera denounced the “extremely pernicious attitude of resignation” of her new superior with regard to the European Green Deal. She then believed that Germany was allowing itself to be led by the extreme right, fiercely opposed to this ecological treaty, in order to guarantee her re-election at the head of the European body.
Meticulous knowledge of archives.
“She made harsh comments against von der Leyen, but the College of Commissioners will have to get used to her saying things as she wants to say them. She doesn’t have that political side of wanting to please everyone and always be friendly,” explained Gonzalo Escribano, head of the Energy and Climate programme at the Elcano Royal Institute of The Express.
To successfully carry out these battles, Teresa Ribera relies on a thorough knowledge of the files, her relatives report. Archives in which she has been working for almost 15 years. A lawyer by training, she began her political career as Secretary of State for Climate Change (208-2011). Expatriated in Paris, she headed the Institute for Sustainable Development and International Relations (IDDRI) from 2014 to 2018, and participated in the negotiations for the Paris Agreement in 2015.
“Socialist approach”
At 55, Pedro Sánchez’s current Minister for Ecological Transition should bring a “socialist approach” to this new configuration of commissioners. A valued interlocutor by Brussels, she was at the forefront of negotiations for the reform of the European electricity market. She obtained a temporary derogation so that Spain, like Portugal, could adjust the rules of this market: this is the “Iberian exception”.
Thanks to the implementation of this mechanism, which allowed the price of gas to be decoupled from that of electricity, Spanish household bills have been reduced. Its public perception has increased. In Spain, it is also recognised for having stopped illegal crossings for strawberry crops, which are drying up the Doñana National Park in Andalusia.
At the European level, his anti-nuclear stances have earned him the distrust of atomic advocates. “He has deep-rooted convictions but is not maximalist in his positions,” says the Spanish expert in L’Express. Those close to him praise his ability to find compromises.
Source: BFM TV
