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Von der Leyen’s portfolio paradoxes

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Von der Leyen’s portfolio paradoxes

Exotic hybrid portfolios, overlapping policies, and candidates with a problematic past could all plague plans for the new European Commission outlined by Germany’s Ursula von der Leyen yesterday.

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Commission President Ursula von der Leyen pledged to get rid of “rigid stovepipes”, as she unveiled plans for her second mandate yesterday (17 September).   

She may indeed seek to avoid the kind of stiff structures that can lead to isolated and contradictory policymaking. 

But complex compound portfolios and overlapping responsibilities risk making her Commission look more like tangled spaghetti.  

Weird pairings

One common theme of the new portfolios she has handed to her 26 lieutenants is the creation of exotic compound briefs.  

Slovakia’s Maroš Šefčovič will pair trade — a flagship policy area where Brussels holds significant power – with overall relations with other institutions such as the European Parliament.

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Denmark’s Dan Jørgensen has been given responsibility for housing alongside energy, while Belgium’s Hadja Lahbib combines crisis management and equality – prompting outrage from activists who worry she’ll have to split her time between pandemics, forest fires and women’s rights. 

Those choices may be as much about the quality of the candidate as the portfolio. Šefčovič is seen as a safe pair of hands who’s hoovered up many miscellaneous duties in his time in Brussels; Lahbib, as a woman with Algerian roots, is perhaps viewed as a good pick for equality in the normally lily-white, male-dominated Commission. 

Socialist MEPs, having insisted on a post to tackle Europe’s housing shortage, wanted it to go to one of their own, and Jørgensen is one of the few centre-left options von der Leyen had.

Bumping heads

In other cases, overlaps among portfolios are likely to lead to duplication or territorial infighting.

Such squabbles are nothing new: there’s been a longstanding dispute over who’s responsible for food policy between the Commission’s health and agriculture services.  

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Those aren’t necessarily now resolved: according to the brief sent by von der Leyen, Hungary’s Olivér Várhelyi remains responsible for food safety and affordability — though Luxembourg’s Christophe Hansen is officially designated as “commissioner for agriculture and food.” 

Worse still, Várhelyi will have to tussle with Lahbib over the newly established Commission department for Health Emergency Preparedness (DG HERA).

Among her duties as Commissioner for the Mediterranean, Croatia’s Dubravka Šuica is invited to fix tensions in the Middle East, “promoting all the steps needed for a two-state solution” to the conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Territories.

That might seem a tall order for the former mayor of Dubrovnik, whose previous responsibilities included preparing a report on demography and organising the Conference on the Future of Europe.

It also may mean bumping heads with Estonia’s Kaja Kallas, responsible for the EU’s overall foreign policy.

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Cooperation between the two “is not clear yet”, one senior commission official said today; while Kallas will deal with “questions of war and peace,” the requirement for frequent travel to the region means it’s too big a job for one person, added the official, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Hearing trouble

In some cases, von der Leyen’s picks might lead to trouble when she submits her roster for confirmation by the European Parliament. 

Alongside his climate brief, the Netherlands’ Wopke Hoekstra has been handed responsibility for tax – though he’s a finance minister from a country that’s long been in Brussels’ sights for aggressive tax planning, and the Paradise Papers leak of 2021 revealed his links to the Virgin Islands, a tax haven.

Ireland’s Michael McGrath may also feel the heat for having opposed a 2018 referendum to legalise abortion.

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The topic is only indirectly related to the justice portfolio he’s been handed.

But it’s also the kind of issue that resonates in Brussels, as Malta’s Roberta Metsola discovered when her longstanding opposition to abortion nearly stymied her bid to become European Parliament President in 2022.

Gerardo Fortuna contributed reporting. 

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Investors brace for a bigger backlash from Middle East war

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Investors brace for a bigger backlash from Middle East war
From being just a fringe risk, conflict in the Middle East has become a top worry for investors unsettled by the prospect of a power struggle in Iran and a protracted regional war, with ramifications for everything from global trade to inflation.
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Tel Aviv analyst shelters from 30 missile sirens in 48 hours, says Iran ‘won’t recover’

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Tel Aviv analyst shelters from 30 missile sirens in 48 hours, says Iran ‘won’t recover’

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The past 48 hours in Tel Aviv have been unlike anything seen before, a leading security analyst has said, as sirens blared amid missile threats following Operation Epic Fury and U.S.-Israeli strikes in Iran.

“We are facing a biblical event — nothing less,” Kobi Michael, a senior researcher at the Institute for National Security Studies and the Misgav Institute, told Fox News Digital, speaking from his shelter in the city.

Like many Israelis, Michael said he had spent hours in reinforced rooms during the ongoing barrage, adding that he was “very experienced in this.”

“But this all requires time and determination, and I do hope that Trump will also have them both,” he said, speaking shortly after the president released a video message stating that the military operation would continue “until all of our objectives are achieved.”

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Explosions from projectile interceptions by Israel’s Iron Dome missile defence system over Tel Aviv. (JACK GUEZ / AFP via Getty Images)

“Trump is the only one who can make the change — and that change will impact the entire region and the international order for years to come,” Michael added.

As of Sunday, Tel Aviv remained under a state of emergency following Iranian missile attacks that caused casualties and widespread damage.

According to The Associated Press, Iranian missile and drone strikes have killed approximately 11 Israeli civilians and wounded dozens more in retaliation for the U.S.-Israel strikes on Iran.

Shrapnel from missile impacts damaged at least 40 buildings in Tel Aviv, and authorities reported at least one death in the area from falling debris.

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The Philippine Embassy in Israel confirmed the death of a Filipino national after a missile strike hit Tel Aviv on Saturday.

TOMAHAWKS, B-2 STEALTH BOMBERS AND ATTACK DRONES POUND OVER 1,000 IRANIAN TARGETS IN 24-HOUR BLITZ

People take shelter as Iran launched missiles and drones towards Israel following the US-Israeli attacks. ( Mostafa Alkharouf/Anadolu via Getty Images)

“We enter our shelter once the siren is heard and stay there until the Home Front Command announces that we can leave,” Michael said.

“Usually, it is about 20 to 30 minutes — unless there are further sirens during our stay. Since yesterday morning, it has happened around 30 times.”

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Israel’s President Isaac Herzog also visited an impact site in Tel Aviv Sunday, delivering a message of resilience.

“The people of Israel and the people of Iran can live in peace. The region can live in peace. But what undermines peace time and again is terror instigated by this Iranian regime,” Herzog said.

EXILED IRANIAN CROWN PRINCE SAYS US STRIKES MARK ‘BEGINNING OF THE VERY END’ FOR REGIME

Israeli emergency service officer walks past building debris at the scene of a Iranian missile attack. (Ahmad GHARABLI / AFP via Getty Images)

Following the reported killing of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and roughly 40 senior Iranian officials, Iran formed a provisional leadership council.

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Iran named Ayatollah Alireza Arafi, President Masoud Pezeshkian and Judiciary Chief Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Eje’i to lead roles.

“The Supreme Leader did not complete the necessary groundwork regarding his own succession,” Michael added.

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“Pezeshkian will face very troubling challenges due to their heavy losses, severe disruptions to control and command systems, and the massive bombing and attacks across Iran, including Tehran,” he said.

“Even if this regime doesn’t collapse, it will never be able to reconstitute itself, recover or return to its previous position,” Michael added.

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Israel FM says Europe too divided, slams Spanish PM

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Israel FM says Europe too divided, slams Spanish PM

Israeli minister Gideon Sa’ar said Europe “does not have unified position” on what role it should play in Iran as European ministers sought to establish a joint approach Sunday.

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As Israel and the United States conducted a joint military strike on Iran, leading to the killing of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Europe was kept on the sidelines.

EU member states did not participate in the operation and, in some cases, they were not informed prior as it is customary among strategic allies.

Asked whether Israel sought to keep Europe on the margins, Sa’ar said internal divisions within EU member states had kept them out of critical exchanges of operational details, unlike the United States, which the minister described as his country’s greatest ally.

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“In Europe, you have all kinds of approaches,” he told Euronews. “You have countries like the Czech Republic which is strongly supporting this operation and then you have Spain, which is standing with all the tyrants of the world.”

On Saturday, Spanish prime minister Pedro Sánchez was among the most critical voices in Europe, suggesting the US-Israeli strikes on Iran risk plunging the region into total war.

“We reject the unilateral military action of the United States and Israel, which represents an escalation and contributes to a more uncertain and hostile international order,” Sánchez said Saturday. The Spanish PM reiterated that message on Sunday.

“We urge for de-escalation and call to respect international law in all conflicts,” Sánchez added. “You can be against a heinous regime, like the Iranian regime, while also rejecting a military intervention that is unjustified, dangerous and outside of international law.”

Sa’aar said Israel considers the operation “fully justified” citing the right to self-defense from a regime that “has called for the destruction of Israel” and lashed at the Spanish prime minister for sending an “anti-Israeli, anti-American message.”

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“Read the statement, they are standing with Iran!” he added.

When asked if any of his European counterparts had manifested an interest in joining the military operation or provide support on the ground, Sa’ar said he held multiple exchanges with European ministers over the weekend and suggested that “if others want to join, they will know have to convey the message.”

On Sunday, Commission President Ursula von der Leyen appeared to back regime change in Iran in line with Israel and the US, saying that the “risk of further escalation is real. This is why a credible transition in Iran is urgently needed” in comments on Sunday.

Sa’ar told Euronews said the strategic strikes and the elimination of Khamenei alongside top regime commanders could “create the conditions to weaken the regime enough to allow the Iranians to take their future into their own hands”.

“The future leadership of Iran should be determined by the Iranian people through free elections. Our only requirement is that whoever comes to power in Iran must not pursue the destruction of Israel,” he said.

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Watch the full interview on Euronews from 8pm CET

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