Cyprus's Kadis Named EU’s Fisheries Commissioner

Von der Leyen announced the roles of her 26 commissioner nominees in a press conference in Brussels, with a Cypriot taking on the fisheries brief for the first time. 

“Every member of my team will bring in their own experience and perspectives on Europe. Together, we will be one team, working towards one common goal: to make Europe stronger,” she said.

Kadis’ role will entail less than that of the previous fisheries commissioner Virginijus Sinkevicius, whose portfolio also included the matter of the “environment”.

The environment brief is now in the hands of Sweden’s Jessika Roswall, whose full portfolio bears the title “environment, water resilience, and a competitive circular economy”, while the Netherlands’ Wopke Hoekstra and Spain’s Teresa Ribeira Rodriguez both have environment-adjacent briefs.

Rodriguez is also one of the commission’s six vice presidents, alongside Romania’s Roxana Minzatu, Finland’s Henna Virkkunen, Estonia’s Kaja Kallas, Italy’s Raffaele Fitto, and France’s Stephane Sejourne.

Sejourne’s nomination to the commission was announced at the very last second after France’s initial nominee, incumbent internal market commissioner Thierry Breton, spectacularly resigned with immediate effect on Monday, claiming von der Leyen had asked French President Emmanuel Macron to withdraw him in return for a more important brief.

Kadis’ portfolio is not exactly what Cyprus’ government had hoped its nominee would attain, with President Nikos Christodoulides having said in July that Cyprus would be “interested” in the role of a European Commissioner for the Mediterranean.

Christodoulides said the country “has a lot to offer on shipping and other issues affecting the region”, and thus a Cypriot candidate would be “ideal” for the role.

He added that von der Leyen had created the role “after our own urgings”.

Von der Leyen had first floated the idea of a dedicated European Commissioner for the Mediterranean earlier in the summer, telling members of the European Parliament the Mediterranean “should get undivided attention”.

However, in the end, it was Croatia’s Dubravka Suica who was handed the Mediterranean portfolio, with this marking her second term as a commissioner.

She served in von der Leyen’s first commission as commissioner for democracy and demography – a portfolio which has now been divided between Ireland’s Michael McGrath’s “democracy, justice, and the rule of law” portfolio and executive vice president Minzatu’s “people, skills, and preparedness” brief.

The health portfolio, soon to be vacated by Cyprus’ Stella Kyriakides, has been taken on by Hungary’s Oliver Varhelyi, with “animal welfare” now tagged on to the end of the role’s description.

Varhelyi had served in von der Leyen’s first commission as commissioner for neighbourhood and enlargement – a brief which is now held by Slovenia’s Marta Kos.

Among the remaining portolios, Greece’s Apostolos Tzitzikostas will take on the “sustainable transport and tourism” brief, Latvia’s Valdis Dombrovskis effectively demoted from executive vice president to “economy and productivity”, and Belgium’s Hadja Lahbib will take on the “crisis management” brief alongside the equality portfolio – the role formerly held by Cyprus’ Christos Stylianides between 2014 and 2019.

One standout role among those remaining is the EU’s first ever defence commissioner, named as Andreas Kubilius.

Moves had been made to create such a role in the wake of the Ukraine war, with the hope of unifying the EU’s defence policy and reducing Europe’s dependence on the United States in the field.

Christodoulides had said in April he believed the role will “further strengthen the European Union’s defence and security.”

He added, “we are one of those member states which believe that the EU’s security and defence should be strengthened even more. We want the Republic of Cyprus through the National Guard to participate in EU missions.”

This European Commission will be the fifth in which Cyprus has been an EU member state and thus been able to nominate a commissioner.

The country’s first European commissioner was Markos Kyprianou, son of late President Spyros Kyprianou, who served as health commissioner from 2004 until 2007 when he was replaced by Androulla Vassiliou, wife of former president George Vassiliou.

Vassiliou remained a commissioner but was given the education brief after the 2009 European elections.

After the 2014 European elections, then President Nicos Anastasiades nominated Stylianides to serve as the Cypriot commissioner. He became the humanitarian aid commissioner, and remained in post until the 2019 European elections, after which Anastasiades nominated Kyriakides. Stylianides is now Greece’s shipping minister.

Source: Cyprus Mail