Jean-Claude Juncker, the incoming president of the European Commission, has brushed aside criticisms that his re-organisation of the Commission will compromise European policies.
Juncker had been accused by healthcare organisations of subordinating health to economics, by putting pharmaceutical policy under the industry commissioner. But the president-elect responded swiftly on 24 September with a restatement of the logic of his decision – and a firm assertion of his right to dispose his officials as he sees fit.
Other criticisms have been made of Juncker’s plans to reshape the Commission – notably about what some MEPs see as a sidelining of environment policy – but they have yet to receive a response. Juncker’s unambiguous tone on the health portfolio suggests that he is unwilling to think again. Around 50 MEPs wrote to Juncker last week complaining that the environment has been ignored in the vice-presidency posts, and asking for a dedicated vice-president for sustainability. Other MEPs see ulterior motives in the move of food waste from the environment department to health, suspecting an attempt to kill off a food waste communication that was being prepared by environment officials.
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Nick Crosby comment:
The new Commission- and new DGs- will take time to adjust to the Juncker programme. For financial services, Lord Hill's new configuration will also require close scrutiny. Sources close to him say that he was not expecting the financial services portfolio and had spent most of the summer briefing himself on environmental policy.
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