Die Welt: Fitto to executive vice-presidency with Economy and Pnrr

Raffaele Fitto will be executive vice-president with responsibility for the economy and the NRP in the new European Commission still headed by Ursula von der Leyen. The German newspaper Die Welt writes that "for the first time a right-wing populist" will have "a top position in the European Commission". The overall package is expected to be announced by the end of this week, adds the newspaper, according to which 'one thing is certain: in addition to the representative-designate for EU foreign policy, Von der Leyen will have four other executive vice-presidents alongside her'.

Five executive vice-presidents

In addition to Fitto and the EU high representative for foreign policy - a post for which the former Estonian premier Kaja Kallas has been nominated - according to the Welt von der Leyen would like the Latvian conservative Valdis Dombrovskis to be among the executive vice-presidents, who would be delegated to the enlargement and reconstruction of Ukraine. According to German newspaper reports, the other executive vice-presidents could be the Spanish socialist Teresa Ribera Rodríguez with the delegation for transition and the French liberal Thierry Breton (industry and strategic autonomy). The Dutch Wopke Hoekstra should be in charge of trade relations, while the new European energy commissioner, again according to rumours collected by Die Welt, should be the current Czech Jozef Síkela industry minister. The Slovak Maroš Šefčovič is expected to deal with the reduction of bureaucracy and inter-institutional issues, while the Polish Piotr Serafin will be in charge of the budget, thus leading the negotiations on the new seven-year EU budget.