EU Commission President von der Leyen has announced the portfolios of the next Commissioners. They will now face hearings in the European Parliament and will then have to be approved by the plenary of the Parliament over the next weeks.

The structure of the Commission has been changed, with six Executive Vice-Presidents. Two of these will be critical for the recreational boating industry. The Spain-nominated Teresa Ribera will be Executive Vice-President of a Clean, Just and Competitive Transition guiding the work to ensure that Europe stays on track for its goals set out in the European Green Deal based on an industrialised economy at the same time. Stéphane Séjourné, from France will be the Executive Vice-President for Prosperity and Industrial Strategy. He will also be responsible for the Industry, SMEs and the Single Market portfolio. The Directorate-General GROW will be reporting to him, meaning that he will also be politically responsible for the likely revision of the Recreational Craft Directive.

Among the team of Commissioners, Cypriot Costas Kadis will be the Commissioner for Fisheries and Oceans. Among his areas of responsibility will be the blue economy, one of EBI’s core interests and he will be charged with developing the first European Oceans Pact. The Swedish Commissioner, Jessika Roswall will be the Commissioner for Environment, Water Resilience and a Competitive Circular Economy. Among her priority areas will be water resilience, which is a big priority at EU level for the years ahead. Apostolos Tzitzikostas, nominated by Greece will be Commissioner for Sustainable Transport and Tourism. This is the first time that there is a Commissioner with tourism in their title, which will be an important development for the boating and nautical tourism sector.

EBI will closely monitor the hearings in the EU Parliament and the Commissioner’s priorities, aiming to meet with them or their teams in the coming months to introduce the boating industry and its priorities.