MEP Henna Virkkunen (NCP) spoke with members of the public in Rovaniemi, Finnish Lapland, on 20 August 2024. Virkkunen was on Tuesday nominated as the executive vice president for technology, sovereignty, security and democracy in the next European Commission, led by Germany’s Ursula von der Leyen. (Roni Rekomaa – Lehtikuva)
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HENNA VIRKKUNEN (NCP), the Finnish nominee to the European Commission, has been designated as the executive vice president in charge of technology, sovereignty, security and democracy in the next European Commission.
President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen unveiled her new team of commissioners and executive vice presidents on Tuesday.
Virkkunen, a 52-year-old third-term Member of the European Parliament from Joutsa, Central Finland, is set to take charge of policy domains such as promoting digitalisation, fostering breakthrough technologies, managing the security risks of technological advances and protecting the rule of law.
She described her portfolio as important, even though she had yet been briefed about its full scope by von der Leyen.
“The EU has in recent years brought forward plenty of legislation on digitalisation, and now we’re focusing especially on implementing the legislation. At the same time the world is moving forward fast, and the development has been rapid especially in critical technologies. Europe wants to be stronger in that area,” she stated to Helsingin Sanomat on Tuesday.
“The EU has to focus on strengthening the economy, competitiveness and security in the coming years, and I believe this future post will give me the opportunity to work toward these goals, which are important to Finland and Europe.”
Von der Leyen on Tuesday unveiled a commission consisting of 6 executive vice presidents and 21 commissioners. The vice presidents, she revealed, will not only be assigned a portfolio of their own, but also be tasked with coordinating the work of any number of commissioners.
According to Politico, Virkkunen will coordinate the work of Andrius Kubilius of Lithuania, the nominee for the defence and space portfolio, Magnus Brunner of Austria, the nominee for the internal affairs and migration portfolio and Michael McGrath of Ireland, the nominee for the democracy, justice and rule of law portfolio.
Together with Stéphane Séjourné of France, the vice president designate for prosperity and industrial strategy, she will also coordinate the work of Ekaterina Zaharieva of Bulgaria, the nominee for the startups, research and innovation portfolio.
“Being nominated for the position of executive vice president is naturally a big show of confidence,” said Virkkunen.
Prime Minister Petteri Orpo (NCP) had outlined earlier that the government was interested particularly in a competitiveness-related portfolio.
“[This] is exactly what we were looking for,” he commented to Helsingin Sanomat on Tuesday.
The European Commission will not be formally appointed until all nominees have been subjected to and survived an hours-long grilling by the European Parliament. Von der Leyen has estimated that the new commission could start its work in early November, possibly before the highly anticipated US presidential elections.
Aleksi Teivainen – HT
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Source: www.helsinkitimes.fi
