EU names Wopke Hoekstra as climate and 'clean growth' tsar

Green agenda gets new economic focus as Ursula von der Leyen names European Commission team

Wopke Hoekstra's title has been changed from Commissioner for Climate Action to Commissioner for Climate, Net Zero and Clean Growth. EPA

Dutch politician Wopke Hoekstra has been reappointed as the EU's climate tsar with a new brief emphasising “clean growth”.

Mr Hoekstra said climate action should move “closer together” to economic growth as he was nominated for a five-year term by European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen. She named her new team on Tuesday after a fraught back-and-forth with the 27 EU capitals, who put forward one candidate each.

Spain's Teresa Ribera will also have a hand in the EU's Green Deal agenda as vice president overseeing a “clean, just and competitive transition”. But Mr Hoekstra, who was the EU's top negotiator at the Cop28 summit in the UAE, will remain its diplomatic frontman on climate change.

His title has been changed from Commissioner for Climate Action to Commissioner for Climate, Net Zero and Clean Growth. Mr Hoekstra stepped into the role last year after fellow Dutchman Frans Timmermans stepped down to run in national elections.

A key task for the new commission will be agreeing an EU-wide greenhouse gas emissions target for 2040. Ms von der Leyen is pushing for an ambitious 90 per cut in emissions compared to 1990 levels, although some proposals have been watered down amid protests by farmers that also shook up Dutch politics.

Green candidates lost almost a quarter of their seats at June elections to the European Parliament, while Ms von der Leyen's European People's Party campaigned on “less bureaucracy” and green policies that “promote economic prosperity and food security”.

Mr Hoekstra, a former Dutch minister of finance and foreign affairs, said he was “honoured and humbled” to take on the new brief. “To tackle climate change and enhance our economy, it is essential to bring the two closer together,” he said.

Setting out each commissioner's role, Ms von der Leyen said the climate tsar “will continue to work on implementation and adaptation, on climate diplomacy and decarbonisation, and he will also be responsible for taxation”.

European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen presented her new team to the European Parliament on Tuesday. EPA

Ms von der Leyen has named “prosperity, security and democracy” as the themes of her second term, with economic competitiveness a key focus. Former European Central Bank chief Mario Draghi warned of a long-term trend of sluggish growth in a major report last week.

Ms von der Leyen's new team also includes the first EU defence commissioner, namely Lithuania's former prime minister Andrius Kubilius, as she seeks a more muscular role for the bloc after Russia's invasion of Ukraine brought war to its doorstep.

Also appointed for the first time is a commissioner for the Mediterranean, Dubravka Suica, who has been asked to “develop our shared interests with the region”. Czech politician Jozef Sikela is in charge of EU investment in developing countries.

Estonia's ex-prime minister Kaja Kallas, who has built an image as a pro-Ukraine hardliner, succeeds Josep Borrell as the EU's high representative for foreign affairs. Marta Kos of Slovenia will have an enlargement brief covering Ukraine's bid for EU membership. Austria's Magnus Brunner will oversee migration, including a controversial new asylum pact meant to share out new arrivals beyond front-line countries such as Italy and Greece.

Ms Ribera will oversee the “clean, just and competitive transition” as one of six executive vice presidents. Ms Kallas is a second, while a third is France's Stephane Sejourne, who has been handed an industrial strategy beat.

Ms von der Leyen's team includes one commissioner from each EU member state. AFP

Mr Sejourne was a last-minute replacement for France's current commissioner Thierry Breton, who lost out in a tug-of-war with Ms von der Leyen and accused her of “questionable governance” in a terse resignation letter on Monday.

Finland's Henna Virkkunen will be vice president for tech issues, while Romania's Roxana Minzatu has been given a jobs and skills portfolio and Italy's Raffaele Fitto will oversee regions and cities. New roles for the 20 regular commissioners include a crisis management brief given to Belgian Foreign Minister Hadja Lahbib.

Former Brexit negotiator Maros Sefcovic of Slovakia takes on two roles managing trade and internal EU relations, while Latvia's Valdis Dombrovskis is in charge of both economic policy and a “simplification” drive recommended by Mr Draghi.

Hungary's Oliver Varhelyi has been handed a health role, Cyprus's Costas Kadis will handle fisheries, Portugal's Maria Luís Albuquerque takes on financial services, Sweden's Jessika Roswall is in charge of water and the environment, and Poland's Piotr Serafin will draw up the EU budget. Bulgaria's Ekaterina Zaharieva will oversee research and innovation, Ireland's Michael McGrath is responsible for justice and the rule of law, Luxembourg's Christophe Hansen is tasked with managing agriculture, Malta's Glenn Micallef will work on youth and sport, and Greece's Apostolos Tzitzikostas is the EU's new man on transport and tourism.

A push for gender balance ended with 11 women in the 27 positions, which Ms von der Leyen said was an improvement from the six initially chosen. She also sought geographic balance with an east-west split of commission vice presidents.