The European Commission until 2014: what can we expect and hope for?
On Tuesday 9 February, the European Parliament approved the new European Commission by 488 votes in favour, 137 against and 72 abstentions. During the hearings of the new Commissioners that happened before the approval, ILGA-Europe watched carefully and noted the key outcomes from the LGBT rights perspective.
The European Parliament vote in Strasbourg was a single vote on the whole College of Commissioners, consisting of one Commissioner from each of the 27 European Union Member States. ILGA-Europe works with a number of Commissioners, and it is important what we can expect during the next 5 years.
The Commissioners play a huge role in what shape and direction the European Union is going to work on as a whole. At the elections for the European Parliament in July 2009, ILGA-Europe launched a campaign Be Bothered. The aim of the campaign was to gain signatures from the European Parliament candidates to our 10 points pledge which summaries the key issues that ILGA-Europe wants to see advanced at the European Union level over the next five years.
ILGA-Europe is going to use those 10 points as a basis for its work also with the European Commission during their mandate that are ending in 2014.
Below are ILGA-Europe’s observations from the hearings of the new Commissioners at the European Parliament prior to their appointments relevant to our work and which give us a clue how they would work for equality of LGBT people.
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Justice, Fundamental Rights and Citizenship:
Commissioner Viviane Reding (Luxembourg)
During the hearing, she was twice asked LGBT specific questions. Her answers were encouraging as she insisted that she is commitment towards ensuring full freedom of movement of citizens, and increased mutual recognition of all familial relationships within the European Union. On hate and violence against LGBT people she responded that, "Homophobia has no place in Europe". Moreover, she stated that she will make sure that the Charter of Fundamental Rights' is fully implemented.
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Home Affairs
Commissioner Cecilia Malmström (Sweden)
She was very clear on her commitment to fundamental rights throughout her interview. She expressed regret that the new anti-discrimination directive has not yet been adopted, and shown that she intends to work very closely with Viviane Reding on fundamental rights issues.
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Enlargement and European Neighborhood Policy
Commissioner Štefan Füle (Czech Republic)
The Commissioner indicated that he will stick to the European values of human rights and fundamental freedoms in the EU Neighbourhood Policy.
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Development
Commissioner Andris Piebalgs (Latvia)
As Commissioner Štefan Füle, he also indicated that he will stick to the European values of human rights and fundamental freedoms in the policy on development aid.
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Foreign Affairs and Security Policy
Commissioner Catherine Ashton (United Kingdom)
During the hearings she was not asked any LGBT specific questions. However, her inclusion of a reference in the CV to the 2006 Politician of the Year Award that she received from Stonewall shows her continued commitment to LGBT rights.
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Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion
Commissioner László Andor (Hungary)
He was not asked specific human rights questions during his hearing, but his commitment to social issues should show that he too would progress equality for all as a Commissioner.
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Health and Consumer Policy
Commissioner John Dalli (Malta)
During the hearings he repeated references to his commitment to disease prevention without a similar emphasis on wellbeing, thus raising concern that his notion of health may be very narrow. The Malta Gay Rights Movement have also raised concerns about his track record on his lack of commitment towards transgender healthcare.
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Other European Commissioner are:
- José Manuel Barroso (Portugal) - President
- Joaquín Almunia (Spain) - Competition
- Siim Kallas (Estonia) - Transport
- Neelie Kroes (The Netherlands) - Digital Agenda
- Antonio Tajani (Italy) - Industry and Entrepreneurship
- Maroš Šefčovič (Slovakia) - Inter-Institutional Relations and Administration
- Janez Potočnik (Slovenia) - Environment
- Olli Rehn (Finland) - Economic and Monetary Affairs
- Michel Barnier (France) - Internal Market and Services
- Androulla Vassiliou (Cyprus) - Education, Culture, Multilingualism and Youth
- Algirdas Šemeta (Lithuania) - Taxation and Customs Union, Audit and Anti-Fraud
- Karel De Gucht (Belgium) - Trade
- Máire Geoghegan-Quinn (Ireland) - Research and Innovation
- Janusz Lewandowski (Poland) - Financial Programming and Budget
- Maria Damanaki (Greece) - Fisheries and Maritime Affairs
- Kristalina Georgieva (Bulgaria) - International Cooperation, Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Response
- Günther Oettinger (Germany) - Energy
- Johannes Hahn (Austria) - Regional Policy
- Connie Hedegaard (Denmark) - Climate Action
- Dacian Cioloş (Romania) - Agriculture and Rural Development
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