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Strasbourg (France) – The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, unveiled her team of commissioners on Tuesday for the next five-year term, all of whom are yet to undergo scrutiny and hearings with the European Parliament. Here are the 27 profiles.
President: Ursula von der Leyen (Germany)
Von der Leyen (Brussels, 1958), the all-powerful President of the European Commission between 2019 and 2024, is repeating the position after previously holding three different ministries in Berlin in separate Angela Merkel governments: Defense, Labor, and Family. She is a physician by training and has seven children.
First Executive Vice President for a Clean, Fair, and Competitive Transition: Teresa Ribera (Spain)
Ribera (Madrid, 1969) has nearly two decades in climate policy leadership roles, the last six years as minister and vice president of the Spanish government. Her career highlights her experience in climate issues and her negotiating skills, which have led her to play a notable role in, among other areas, the reform of the European electricity market.
Executive Vice President for Prosperity and Industrial Strategy: Stéphane Séjourné (France)
Séjourné (Versailles, 1985) leaves his position in the French government as Foreign Minister to return to Brussels, where until the beginning of this year he had spent his entire political career as a Member of the European Parliament and leader of the European liberals. Previously, he had been a close advisor to Emmanuel Macron, both during his time as president and as minister.
Executive Vice President and High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy: Kaja Kallas (Estonia)
The future head of EU diplomacy, Kallas (Tallinn, 1977) leaves behind her role as Prime Minister of her country, where she has built a reputation for her unwavering support for Kyiv and tough stance against Moscow, which became particularly notable after the Russian invasion of Ukraine. She had already passed through Brussels as an MEP specializing in digital issues.
Executive Vice President for Technological Sovereignty, Security, and Democracy: Henna Virkunnen (Finland)
Virkkunen (Joutsa, 1972) has been an MEP since 2014 and during her political tenure in Finland, she was part of three different liberal-conservative governments as Minister of Education (2008-2011), Public Administration and Local Government (2011-2014), and Transport (2014).
Executive Vice President for Cohesion and Reforms: Raffaele Fitto (Italy)
A former protégé of Silvio Berlusconi with a past in Christian Democracy, Fitto (Maglie, 1969) will be the first member of an Italian far-right party to join the EU executive, after nearly two years being Giorgia Meloni’s amiable face and mediator with Brussels, as well as one of the most influential members of her government and a key player in the allocation of post-pandemic EU funds.
Executive Vice President for People, Skills, and Preparedness: Roxana Minzatu (Romania)
MEP Roxana Minzatu (Bucharest, 1980) was part of the Romanian Parliament between 2016 and 2020, and in 2019, she served as Minister of European Funds, with a particular focus on infrastructure development and digitalization of the country. She has extensive experience in managing European funds, acquired in the private sector, NGOs, and public functions.
Commissioner for Financial Services and the Savings and Investment Union: Maria Luís Albuquerque (Portugal)
This economist (Braga, 1967) was Finance Minister between 2013 and 2015 during the conservative government of Pedro Passos Coelho, in years marked by a bailout that led to cuts in employment aid and a reduction in pensions, among several measures.
Commissioner for Energy and Housing: Dan Jørgensen (Denmark)
Jørgensen (Odense, 1975), holds a degree in Political Science and served as an MEP for nearly a decade until Helle Thorning-Schmidt brought him back to national politics in 2013 to serve as Minister of Food, Agriculture, and Fisheries. Years later, he once again received ministerial responsibilities in the governments of Mette Frederiksen.
Commissioner for Environment, Water Resilience, and a Competitive Circular Economy: Jessika Roswall (Sweden)
Roswall (Uppsala, 1972) holds a History degree from Stockholm University and also a Master’s in Law from Uppsala University. A Member of the Swedish Parliament since 2010 for the Moderate Party (conservative), she was part of the national chamber’s European Affairs Committee and was a minister in the portfolio for the last two years.
Commissioner for Budget, Anti-Fraud, and Public Administration: Piotr Serafin (Poland)
With the exception of Donald Tusk, no Polish politician has as much experience in EU institutions as Piotr Serafin, “the right hand” of the Polish Prime Minister in Europe. Serafin, who was Tusk’s chief of staff when he was President of the European Council, took over his country’s permanent representation in Brussels last December.
Commissioner for Defense and Space: Andrius Kubilius (Lithuania)
Kubilius (Vilnius, 1956) studied Physics at Vilnius University and after Lithuania’s independence, he was elected as an MP and served twice as Prime Minister (between 1999-2000 and 2008-2012). Kubilius became an MEP in 2019 and earned a reputation for taking a tough line on relations with Russia and supporting Ukraine in its fight against the Russian invasion.
Commissioner for Interior and Migration: Magnus Brunner (Austria)
Brunner (Höchst, 1972), a lawyer by training, has been Finance Minister of his country since December 2021 and was previously State Secretary in the Ministry of Environment, Energy, Transport, Innovation, and Technology. He also served as the political director of the Austrian Economic Federation, as well as head of development for the energy company Illwerke VKw Group, and a member of the executive board of the energy company OeMAG.
Commissioner for Fisheries and Oceans: Costas Kadis (Cyprus)
Kadis (Nicosia, 1967) was Health Minister between July 2007 and February 2008, headed the Education and Culture portfolio between 2014 and 2018, and the Agriculture portfolio between 2018 and 2023. After leaving the government in 2023, the biologist and staunch advocate for biodiversity conservation became dean of the School of Health Policy at Frederick University (Cyprus).
Commissioner for Sustainable Transport and Tourism: Apostolos Tzitzikostas (Greece)
Tzitzikostas (Thessaloniki, 1978) was until now governor of the Greek region of Central Macedonia and has been president of the Union of Greek Regions and the European Committee of the Regions.
Commissioner for Start-Ups, Research, and Innovation: Ekaterina Zaharieva (Bulgaria)
Zaharieva (Pazardzhik, 1975) was Foreign Minister in the third government of GERB leader Boyko Borisov, between 2017 and 2021. Previously, she was Minister of Justice, as well as Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Regional Development in the interim governments of Georgi Bliznashki and Marin Raykov, between 2014 and 2017.
Commissioner for Health and Animal Welfare: Olivér Várhelyi (Hungary)
Várhelyi (Szeged, 1972) is the current Commissioner for Neighborhood and Enlargement and seeks to repeat his role after five years marked by controversies, the most recent being his unilateral suspension of a series of funds destined for Palestine. He is a lawyer and diplomat.
Commissioner for Enlargement: Marta Kos (Slovenia, pending official confirmation)
Kos (Prevalje, 1965) is a Slovenian diplomat who has been an ambassador in Switzerland and Germany, and was vice president of the party Freedom Movement, a member of the liberals of Renew Europe. The Slovenian prime minister’s cabinet has argued that she has “extensive experience in management and EU projects” and is an expert in communication.
Commissioner for the Mediterranean: Dubravka Suica (Croatia)
Suica (Dubrovnik, 1957) seeks a repeat term in the European Commission after five years leading the Demography and Democracy portfolio. Previously, she was a four-time MEP, two-time mayor of her hometown, a member of the Croatian Parliament, and a senior HDZ official.
Commissioner for Trade and Economic Security and Commissioner for Interinstitutional Relations and Transparency: Maros Sefcovic (Slovakia)
Sefcovic (Bratislava, 1966) is a Slovak politician and diplomat seeking his fourth consecutive term in the Commission, after being vice president during this legislature. Educated in Economics and Law in Bratislava and Diplomacy in Moscow, Sefcovic initially worked at the Czechoslovak embassy in Zimbabwe, then at the Slovak embassy in Ottawa, and eventually rose to ambassador in Tel Aviv and permanent representative of his country to the EU.
Commissioner for Economy and Productivity and Commissioner for Implementation and Simplification: Valdis Dombrovskis
Dombrovskis (Riga, 1971) is already a veteran on the Brussels scene, having been Executive Vice President under von der Leyen’s leadership between 2019 and 2024, focusing on economic portfolios. Previously, he held responsibilities in Financial Services and Trade. He holds degrees in Physics, Mathematics, and Economics, and was Prime Minister of his country between 2009 and 2014.
Commissioner for International Partnerships: Jozef Síkela (Czech Republic)
Síkela (Rokycany, 1957), the current Industry and Trade Minister of the Czech Republic, is an economist who has spent three decades in the banking sector, with executive roles in Austria, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Ukraine, and entered politics in 2021. During the Czech European presidency in 2022, he led the negotiations with the energy ministers of the member states on the energy crisis sparked by the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Commissioner for Crisis Preparedness and Management and Commissioner for Equality: Hadja Lahbib (Belgium)
Lahbib (Boussu, 1970), in her most recent experience, led the Belgian Foreign Ministry, with a notable role during her country’s rotating presidency of the Council of the EU in the final semester of the last legislature. Born in Algeria, she has also worked as a journalist before entering politics.
Commissioner for Climate and Clean Growth and Zero Emissions: Wopke Hoekstra (Netherlands)
Hoekstra (Bennekom, 1975), a prominent figure of the Christian Democratic CDA party, has held several important positions in the Dutch government, including Finance and Foreign Affairs Minister between 2017 and 2023, and during his tenure at the Ministry of Finance, he was heavily criticized by southern European countries for his fiscal austerity stance during negotiations for the approval of post-pandemic recovery funds.
Commissioner for Agriculture and Food: Christophe Hansen (Luxembourg)
Hansen (Wiltz, 1982) has been an MEP since 2018 and has experience in local Luxembourg politics but also behind the scenes in Brussels, where he worked both as a parliamentary assistant and as an advisor in his country’s various representations in the Belgian capital.
Commissioner for Democracy, Justice and Rule of Law: Michael McGrath (Ireland)
McGrath (Cork, 1978) has been in the Irish government for four years, where he has been Finance Minister and also Public Expenditure and Reform Minister. He studied Commerce in his hometown and worked as an accountant at KPMG and as a financial controller for a local radio station.
Commissioner for Intergenerational Justice, Youth, Culture, and Sports: Glenn Micallef (Malta)
Micallef (Malta, 1989) is an economist by training and between 2020 and 2024 served as chief of staff to Malta’s Prime Minister, the Labor leader Robert Abela, also working as an advisor on European affairs. Following the UK’s decision to leave the EU, he headed the Brexit Unit responsible for coordination, negotiation, and adapting Maltese law to Britain’s departure from European institutions. (September 17)