Ireland’s Next European Commissioner: Explained

On 17 September, at a press conference in the European Parliament in Strasbourg, European Commission President, Ursula von der Leyen, confirmed the structure of the next European Commission (2024-2029) and presented her College of Commissioners, as well as their associated portfolios. There will be 11 women in the College of Commissioners and 16 men, representing a gender breakdown of 41% women and 59% men. Ireland’s Commissioner-designate is former Minister for Finance, Michael McGrath, who will be the European Commissioner for Democracy, Justice and the Rule of Law. This Just the Facts looks at what exactly his role will entail and his future responsibilities for the next five years.

Who is Michael McGrath?

On 24 June, Taoiseach Simon Harris presented Ireland’s Minister for Finance, Michael McGrath, as the nomination for Ireland’s next Commissioner. Under the Irish government’s ruling coalition agreement, McGrath’s name was put forward by Fianna Fáil (which is a member of the political group  Renew  in the European Parliament). McGrath has been Minister for Finance since December 2022 and, during this time, he represented Ireland at the Eurogroup and Economic and Financial Affairs Council (ECOFIN), meeting regularly with EU Commissioners and the European Central Bank President. Previously, he was Ireland’s Minister of Public Expenditure and Reform (2020-2022). McGrath is also a governor on a range of international bodies on behalf of Ireland including the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and the European Investment Bank.

How is a European Commissioner appointed?

The European Commission in Brussels is made up of twenty-seven Commissioners: one from each EU Member State. This cohort is known as the “College of Commissioners”. Commissioners have a five-year mandate and are replaced following the European Parliament elections of the same year. The Commissioners do not represent their countries; however, rather they are tasked with representing the EU’s common cause.

As an institution, the Commission is responsible for monitoring whether EU laws are applied correctly and in a timely manner across EU countries. As a result, the Commission is referred to as the “guardian of the treaties”. Given its role, it is therefore imperative that the Commission and its 27 Commissioners are independent. Article 17(3) of the Treaty on European Union (TEU) states that “the Commission shall be completely independent” whereby its members “shall neither seek nor take instructions from any Government or other institution, body, office or entity” where its members’ “independence is beyond doubt”.

Commissioners-designate are nominated through a common accord reached between the Council of the EU (made up of the ministers of the EU Member States) and the Commission President-elect. This list is based on Member State governments’ “suggestions” as stated in European law in Article 17(7) TEU.

Once a common accord is reached regarding the nominated list of Commissioners, the Commissioners-designate appear before the European Parliament committee(s) that best matches their designated portfolio for a single three hour-long webstreamed “hearing”. During this meeting, MEPs assess the suitability of each of the candidates regarding the policy issues that they will have responsibility for and assess if there are any conflicts of interest. Each Commissioner-designate is also invited to answer written questions on their general competence and the management of their portfolio. The confirmation hearings of the Commissioners-designate is a decisive step in the investiture process and  the hearings play a major role in the Commission’s accountability to Parliament. If the Commissioner-designate is rejected after the Parliament’s validation process, the Member State can propose further ‘suggestion(s)’.

Following the hearing process, the European Parliament votes as to whether it rejects or accepts the Commission as a whole, as stated under Article 17(7) TEU. After a positive vote in Parliament, the Commission is formally appointed by a qualified majority vote by the European Council.

What is the Commissioner for Democracy, Justice and the Rule of Law?

Democracy, Justice and Rule of Law is an extensive, high-profile and increasingly important portfolio. The role is currently held by the Belgian Commissioner, Didier Reynders. It is a portfolio that touches the core of the European project – protecting and defending democracy for 450 million citizens. The Commissioner for Democracy, Justice and the Rule of Law ensures that human rights are defended, corruption is punished, and contracts are enforced. The Mission Letter sent to Michael McGrath by President von der Leyen upon his appointment as Commissioner-designate touches on some of the following policy areas:

• Ensuring the rule of law is upheld across the EU, including the application of Article 7 (TEU) and the General Conditionality Mechanism, a tool which was used for the first time in 2022 when EU funds were suspended in Hungary for as a result of rule of law breaches.
• Consolidating the annual Rule of Law Report, coordinating work in reporting across Member States on the areas of judicial independence, anti-corruption, media freedoms, civic space and other institutional checks and balances. For the next mandate, President von der Leyen has suggested including a “Single market dimension” to Rule of Law reports to provide more clarity for companies, especially SMEs, who enter cross-border contracts as to how to address rule of law issues that may arise.
• Working with EU membership candidate countries, including Ukraine, to ensure national laws align to EU rule of law standards.
• Leading on the new initiative which President von der Leyen unveiled in May 2024, titled the “European Democracy Shield” which is aimed at tackling the rise of disinformation and foreign interference in Europe. President von der Leyen has said that the Shield will focus on the detection, treatment and response regarding information manipulation, with a stronger approach to deepfakes.
• Monitoring application of the Charter of Fundamental Human Rights, as well as taking forward and concluding the EU’s accession to the European Convention on Human Rights.
• Strengthening the European Arrest Warrant (EAW) by stepping up the cooperation between Europol and Eurojust, as well as further bolstering the European Public Prosecutors Office (EPPO).
• Implementing the European Media Freedom Act, safeguarding media independence, and media pluralism, and building on the work for the protection of journalist against abusive lawsuits (SLAPPs).
• Representing and protecting the rights of consumers across the EU by presenting a new policy frameworks such as a “Consumer Agenda 2025-2030” and a new “Action Plan” on consumers in the Single Market.
• Ensuring the full enforcement of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), as well as promoting secure and private data flows.
• Monitoring ethical implications and use of Artificial Intelligence.

Next Steps

The mandate of the current College of Commissioners expires at the end of October 2024. Ireland’s Commissioner-designate, Michael McGrath, will be subject to formal hearings in the European Parliament. These hearings will most likely take place between mid-October and the beginning of November.

Before the hearing, Commissioner-designate McGrath will be invited by the relevant committees to answer written questions on his general competence for the role, his commitment to the EU project, his personal independence, his cooperation with the European Parliament and the management of his allocated portfolio.

The MEPs who will subject him to a formal public hearing will likely be from the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (LIBE), the Committee on Legal Affairs (JURI), and the Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection (IMCO).

Following the hearings, the 720 elected MEPs of the European Parliament will have the opportunity to vote by simple majority on whether they approve or reject Ursula von der Leyen’s Commission. This vote could take place anytime between late October and late November, depending on whether any Commissioners-designate are rejected during the Parliament hearing process.

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