The Diplomat The Spanish Government formalized yesterday, through a letter, the nomination of the third vice-president and responsible for Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge, Teresa Ribera, to join the new college of commissioners for Ursula von der Leyen's second term at the head of the European Commission. The nomination of Teresa Ribera was expected in political circles and the vice-president herself confirmed it yesterday in an institutional video, in which she said: "It is a great honor to be appointed by the President of the Government as Spain's candidate for the next European Commission." The Executive has used up until the last day given by Vonder Leyen, which was August 30, to announce its candidate, who was the head of the PSOE list in the European elections but resigned from her seat with a view to becoming part of the Community Executive.In the aforementioned video, Ribera adds that Brussels "must give the right answers to the great challenges" and build "the European dream", based on "prosperity, well-being and opportunities for all". Spain hopes that Ribera will receive a portfolio of weight, related to climate or energy issues, a subject in which the vice-president has stood out in her meetings with her European counterparts. Last Tuesday, the Financial Times pointed out that she has many chances to be the next Commissioner for Climate and Environment. Ribera became the protagonist during the negotiations with the European Commission to achieve the so-called Iberian gas exception, by which Spain and Portugal benefited from a temporary measure to disengage from the European electricity markets and lower their electricity bills. The initiative was approved in June 2022 and extended until the end of 2023. Along with Croatia, Finland, Sweden and Portugal, Spain is one of the few Member States that has presented a woman to form part of the new college of commissioners, something that puts the German 'popular' intention of having a gender-balanced Executive in jeopardy. Von der Leyen now has the distribution of positions and portfolios in her hands and has set a deadline of mid-September to finalize the preparation of her next Executive, after holding the mandatory interviews with the candidates from each country. The chosen candidates will then have to undergo the examination of the European Parliament in October, where the Government hopes to count on the support of the Socialists and the Greens, allies in the revalidation of Von der Leyen for the post. Although she will probably get the support of the Popular Party, sources from the PP have hinted that they will not make it easy for her, because they have their reservations about Ribera, who they consider to be excessively defending ecological issues, compared to the needs of the primary sector.
