Meet Portugal's next EU Commissioner (probably)
Maria Luís Albuquerque was the country's Finance Minister between 2013-2015.
On Wednesday morning, PM Luís Montenegro announced the appointment of Maria Luís Albuquerque as the Government’s pick for European Commissioner in the next term (2024-2029).
“I have total confidence and hope in her,” he said.
Politically, it is surprising choice as Maria Luís Albuquerque, 56, was the Minister of State and Finance during Portugal’s bailout program (so-called the ‘troika’, period) succeeding Vítor Gaspar in July 2013 and remaining until the end of the executive led by Pedro Passos Coelho (2015).
Many Portuguese still associate this Government with welfare retrenchment, wage cuts and high taxes - often referring to it as a Government “of bad memory” (má memória). PM Montenegro has striven to distance himself from this Government so this seems like a risky step back.
As Finance Minister, she also oversaw the public intervention in the Madeira-based Banco Internacional do Funchal (BANIF) and, most controversially, Banco Espírito Santo (BES), to which the Portuguese Government lent €3.9 billion.
She was already named as a potential candidate to the European Commission in 2014 but, in the end, the choice fell on Carlos Moedas (the current Lisbon mayor), precisely because PM Passos Coelho didn’t want to let her go amid the BES resolution.
On the other hand, her nomination suggests that the Government might be aiming to score a powerful economic portfolio in the new Commission, due to her experience in the area.
According to POLITICO, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen might also reward female candidates by handing them a more powerful portfolio.
She is currently a member of the Partido Social Democrata (PSD) National Council - the second name on Luís Montenegro’s list, after Lisbon Mayor Carlos Moedas - and a member of the Supervisory Board of the European subsidiary of the US company Morgan Stanley.
Her appointment by the Portuguese Government is not a straight ticket to the European Commission. To be nominated, she will still have to be approved by the European Parliament.
What is the European Commission?
The European Commission is the executive branch of the European Union (EU). It is responsible for proposing legislation, implementing decisions, upholding the EU treaties, and managing the day-to-day business of the EU. The Commission acts independently of national governments, representing the interests of the EU as a whole rather than individual member states.
The Commission consists of one Commissioner (including the President) from each EU member state, making up the College of Commissioners. Each Commissioner is responsible for a specific policy area, such as trade, environment, or energy (much like a ministerial position).
Once all the member states have designated their Commissioner, the President of the European Commission (currently led by Germany’s Ursula von der Leyen), in collaboration with the member states, assigns each nominated Commissioner a specific portfolio, reflecting the areas of responsibility within the Commission.
According to European sources heard by Lusa, she intends to present her team in mid-September and has already begun interviewing some of the names already proposed.
Controversial Announcement
Her appointment as European Commissioner was marred by controversy even before official announcement as the Government intended to do it at the PSD’s annual summer school, taking place in Castelo de Vide until September 4.
Partido Socialista (PS) leader, Pedro Nuno Santos, accused the government of lacking a sense of state for using a party event to announce the nomination of a public official, emphasising that this is a supra-partisan post.
Pedro Nuno Santos added that he had not been contacted by the executive led by Luís Montenegro about the appointment of the European Commissioner.
Following the controversy, PM Montenegro ended up announcing her appointment in a short statement from São Bento Palace, Lisbon, on Wednesday.
Reactions
President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa personally congratulated Maria Luís Albuquerque for her appointement, adding that he was only “informed and not consulted” about the government’s choice.
Pedro Delgado Alves (PS) regretted that there was no consultation process with the parties, which “would have been democratically healthier and more desirable”. He also referred to the “bad memory” (má memória) of the ‘painful’ measures implemented by Maria Luís Albuquerque’s “austerity beyond the Troika” policy and hoped that this will not be a return to the past.
Mariana Leitão (IL, Liberals) called for the promotion of European policies that protect individual freedoms and asked for a strategy for Portugal to respond to the reduction in European funds resulting from EU enlargement.
The Left Bloc (BE) said she was a “troika agent” who represented the worst in the country and who the government is now rewarding for her “policies of social destruction”, and believes she is a “bad manager of public moneys”.
Paula Santos (Portuguese Communist Party) joined in the criticism of the government and emphasised that Albuquerque was a member of an executive with a “bad memory” for the workers and the Portuguese people, arguing that a possible parliamentary hearing would be a “good opportunity” to question the former minister.