European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen has finally announced her team of Commissioners to lead Europe through the social, biodiversity, and climate crises we are in.
Kim Claes, corporate capture campaigner at Friends of the Earth Europe, reacted:
“The set-up of the team is not what we need to lead a just transition. Most nominees are status quo candidates, with a track record of dancing to the tune of business interest, rather than working for real solutions for people.
The creation of Dombrovski’s “Simplification” portfolio is troubling. What some corporations call a regulatory burden is in fact the safety net for people and planet needed to deliver on the just transition. Under the guise of promoting growth, Von der Leyen pushes a corporate-driven deregulation agenda.
We welcome the housing portfolio. However, by not creating a social affairs portfolio, Von der Leyen shows that she has not listened to the people. To create buy-in for the implementation of the Green Deal and deliver an actual just transition, the new commission must put social justice at the heart of its climate and environmental agenda, and reject the influence of corporate lobbyists pushing for an anti-green industrial deal.
Social justice cannot be an afterthought.”
