European Commissioner for International Partnerships Jutta Urpilainen foresees tough talks after next month’s European Parliament, with both the EU legislature and its executive body swinging toward the right. She was interviewed on the Yle current-affairs talk show Ykkösaamu on Saturday.
Urpilainen, a former SDP chair and finance minister, has been European Commissioner for International Partnerships since December 2019. Her term is set to end after next month’s European Parliament elections.
This past December and January, she took two months’ leave from the Commission to run unsuccessfully in Finland’s recent presidential election, gathering just 4.3 percent of the vote in the first round.
Right wing on the rise
Right-leaning and far-right parties are advancing in various parts of the continent, with several member states led by prime ministers from right-wing parties, noted Urpilainen.
"It is very likely that the members of the next College will come more from right-wing parties than at present, because power has shifted in that direction in several member countries," she said.
The Finnish government led by Prime Petteri Orpo (NCP), which took office last June, has been described as its most right-wing cabinet in decades.
Commissioners are elected indirectly and are not aligned according to party within the executive body, known as the College. However, according to Urpilainen, the commissioners’ political background is certainly reflected in the makeup of the body.
Still, perhaps a more significant factor in terms of the Commission's programme is the political composition of the next European Parliament, because the Commission President must get the legislature's support for his or her programme.
"The negotiations may become challenging if the centrist groups are unable to form a majority and the far right advances in the elections," Urpilainen suggested.
Finns and other EU citizens in Finland go to the polls on 9 June, with advance voting from 29 May.
Urpilainen is not running in that election, and has not said what she plans to do if she doesn't land a spot on the next Commission.
An Yle poll published on Thursday suggests that Orpo's NCP and Urpilainen's SDP will fare best in the European election.
Urpilainen: EU should have a defence commissioner
Defence has become much more crucial issue during the term of the current commission’s term, which has included Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in early 2022.
Europe’s shifting security situation will be seen in the agenda of the next Commission, predicted Urpilainen.
"The view is widely shared that the EU must be able to strengthen its own defence and, in general, prepare for various crises. Finnish overall security thinking is a good starting point for this, and it is great that [former Finnish] President Sauli Niinistö has accepted the task of preparing a report on Europe's crisis readiness," she told Yle.
As Urpilainen sees it, the EU must strengthen its own capabilities, both at the level of individual member states and in terms of the Union as a whole. This means investing in the European defence industry, she said, adding that she backs calls to establish a new position of European Defence Commissioner.
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