The National Assembly’s Committee on European Union Affairs has confirmed Tomaž Vesel as the Slovenian candidate for European Commissioner. He received nine votes in favour, six abstentions and no votes against.
A hearing of the Slovenian candidate for the position of European Commissioner, Tomaž Vesel, was recently held in the National Assembly. In his answers to MPs, the former President of the Court of Audit said that the “green transition” is one of the EU’s biggest neuralgic points and that there should also be shifts in the areas of de-bureaucratisation and competitiveness. Regarding migration, he argued that the compromise reached should be rigorously implemented.
At the beginning of his hearing, Vesel started by expressing his belief that Commissioners had shown too little interest in Slovenia in the past. He promised regular attendance at the meetings of the National Assembly’s Committee on EU Affairs, as well as other working bodies. “I am counting on this cooperation – sincerely, directly – because I do not have any immediate limited political agenda, but I would like to work for the benefit of the citizens of the European Union and, of course, of Slovenia,” he said. He also took a position that is not very common on the political left, from which he comes. He argued that one of Slovenia’s strengths could be “reasonable unity while respecting different political views.” During the hearing, he also said that he had read the programmes of all the political parties in preparation for his candidacy and that he had found something in each party’s programme with which he could identify. He also admitted that he had helped prepare the programme for the ruling Freedom Movement party (Gibanje Svoboda).
Out of the Slovenian Democratic Party (Slovenska demokratska stranka – SDS) MPs, the first to ask Vesel a question was Rado Gladek, who asked for his position on the reintroduction of the fiscal rule. He also asked whether its introduction could cause problems for smaller EU Member States when adopting budgetary documents in the autumn. The next question was posed by SDS MP Alenka Hebl, who asked whether Vesel would be willing to accept any area as commissioner and what his opinion was on the “green transition”.
Vesel recalled that the Fiscal Rule was suspended during the Covid-19 epidemic, but in the future, Member States should be allowed some fiscal flexibility, and the instrument should be well defined. He replied to MEP Helbl that there were some portfolios that were more important for Slovenia than others. And while a commissioner is independent in his work, he or she must also understand national interests. “Of course, a commissioner should be committed to the EU’s interests, but my thesis is that these are complementary to the interest of the commissioner’s Member State,” he said. On the green transition, he said that Slovenia was part of a coalition of nuclear states and that it was difficult to imagine a green transition without nuclear energy in the short or medium term.
MP Andrej Kosi asked Vesel about the so-called woke ideology, which, in light of the EU’s poor demographic picture, threatens the existence of Western democracy and, in his view, the EU’s enlargement. MP Andrej Hoivik then asked Vesel which department he himself would set up if he had the power to do so, and asked him to give his praise and criticism of the current Slovenian Commissioner Lenarčič, as well as talk about where he sees the financial reserves of the European Union.
How Vesel scolded Lenarčič
Vesel replied that, particularly on the issue of EU enlargement to the Western Balkans, the EU had a duty to provide answers. “I myself am in favour of faster enlargement. After 20 years, I think the EU is mature and capable of absorbing an even bigger market, because a bigger market also means more stability in the region,” he said. Regarding the introduction of portfolios, he said he would introduce a department for de-bureaucratisation in the distant future. He praised some of Lenarčič’s reactions to crisis hotspots but criticised him for his lack of presence in Slovenia. And regarding the reallocation of financial resources within the European budget, he said that “some programmes are still quite unspecified, and we also have those that the European Court of Audit has specified, so that would be one by-product of the work that needs to be done.”
Breznik told Vesel that the SDS party would be keeping a close eye on his promise to be more connected to Slovenia than past Commissioners from Slovenia. He also expressed his wish for an increased Slovenian footprint in the European Union. He pointed to the example of Malta, which has a much smaller population than Slovenia, but still has a female President of the European Parliament. He also advocated green realism.
Over-bureaucratisation of the European Union
Vesel then highlighted the EU’s excessive bureaucratisation and opaque legal system, which makes it difficult for companies to do business, as well as the creation of the Health Union, the Public Procurement Union and the Defence and Security Union. The creation of the latter has already been announced by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen as one of the EU’s top strategic priorities, and he also mentioned the creation of a social model for the EU, the prevention of poverty and the creation of a strategy for affordable and sustainable housing, reported the web portal MMC.
Commissioner candidate highlighted the EU’s competitiveness and technological lag behind its competitors as one of its biggest structural problems. He believes that climate change is a “fact”, but that the cost of combating climate change should not be passed on entirely to citizens.
An advocate of a migration “compromise”
During the hearing, he said that the migration pact is a “distinct compromise,” but that it will also have to “stand the test of practice.” There will be a lot of work to do to implement it, he said, and it will also need to be further developed. Migration is one of the most polarising issues in the European Union. The conservative side, which has seen a marked increase in support in the last elections, wants more concrete measures to curb illegal immigration, and opposes the compulsory deployment of migrants to Member States that do not want them.
The SDS party wants a more “assertive” Commissioner
On Wednesday, a meeting took place between Vesel and representatives of the Slovenian Democratic Party. After the meeting, MP Franc Breznik, who is also the chair of the Committee on EU Affairs, said: “We in the Slovenian Democratic Party want Slovenia to have someone in the European Commission who will be decisive, who will be able to make tough decisions and who will represent Slovenia much better than the last two candidates.” Breznik recalled that Vesel had already received support from the SDS party for his candidacy for President of the Court of Audit a few years ago, but that especially during the term of the previous – SDS government, during the coronavirus pandemic, certain tensions had arisen.
Golob’s candidate
It was already known in April, before the European elections, that Vesel would be the Slovenian candidate for European Commissioner. The Prime Minister presented him at a party rally, surprising the coalition partners. Their statements after the announcement of his candidacy indicated that his candidacy was not coordinated. Nor did Golob change his mind when the President of the European Commission instructed the heads of Member States to propose both a male and a female candidate.
The government must send the name of the candidate to Brussels by the 30th of August at the latest. The candidates will be interviewed by the President of the European Commission later this month, and hearings before the relevant committees of the European Parliament will take place in the autumn.
Ž. K.
