Croatia’s Dubravka Šuica to take on a new Mediterranean portfolio

, by Edited by Ryan Dresden, Florian Pileyre

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Croatia's Dubravka Šuica to take on a new Mediterranean portfolio
Portrait of Dubravka Šuica © European Union 2019 - Source: EP

It was a campaign promise of Ursula Von der Leyen’s candidacy for a second term as President of the European Commission last July: the creation of a brand new portfolio dedicated to the Mediterranean, with the aim of strengthening links between its two shores. It is a Croatian, Dubravka Šuica, who will be responsible for fulfilling Von der Leyen’s promise for the next five years.

A Croatian to embody European strategy in the Mediterranean

Šuica is a familiar face in Brussels, as she is one of the few Commissioners in the 2019-2024 term of office to be reappointed for another five-year term. She was previously the European Commissioner for Democracy and Demography. During her first term, she oversaw the Conference on the Future of Europe, a wide-ranging consultation aimed at devising responses to issues of concern to citizens.

Trained as an English and German teacher, she was a Member of the European Parliament for the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ), a member of the European People’s Party (EPP) political family, from 2013 to 2019. Once again nominated as a candidate by Zagreb during the summer, it was likely her past as mayor of the coastal city of Dubrovnik from 2001 to 2009 which convinced Von der Leyen to entrust her with this new portfolio.

For the first time, the Mediterranean will have its own portfolio under the supervision of the High Representative for the External Action of the EU - Kaja Kallas

The portfolio of the Commissioner for the Mediterranean is a brand new portfolio within the Von der Leyen II Commission. Until now, the Mediterranean region was part of the portfolio of the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy (HR/VP), within the European Neighbourhood Policy. From now on, the neighbourhood policy will be separated into two distinct areas within the new Commission. A Commissioner for the Mediterranean for the southern neighbourhood and a European Commissioner for Enlargement for the eastern neighbourhood. Thus, behind the title of portfolio for the Mediterranean, lies the management of Europe’s southern neighbourhood policy ranging from the Maghreb to the Middle East. This includes the EU’s policy towards Palestine under the supervision of the HR/VP Kaja Kallas.

This choice would further give credence to a differentiated approach between third countries that are candidates for enlargement (in the east) and those with no prospect of EU membership (in the south). There are speculations that the creation of this portfolio will counterbalance fears that European foreign policy, freshly embodied by Estonia’s Kaja Kallas, will lean too far east. Although not included in her official title, Šuica will also be responsible for demography, a subject she already covered in her previous term as European Commissioner. As for Šuica’s place within the framework of the College of Commissioners, she will be under the dual supervision of the Executive Vice-President Kaja Kallas (Estonian/Renew), supervisor of External Policy, and Roxana Mînzatu (Romanian/S&D), supervisor of People and Skills. Kallas will oversee Dubravka Šuica’s work in the southern neighbourhood, while Mînzatu will oversee demographic issues.

Dubravka Šuica’s priority issues: A new pact for the Mediterranean and the EU’s relationship with the Near and Middle East in the context of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict

In her mission letter to Šuica, Ursula Von der Leyen gave three main priorities: strengthening links between the two shores of the Mediterranean, deploying a new European strategy in the Middle East, and improving Europe’s demographic resilience in the context of an aging European population.

As far as Mediterranean policy is concerned, Šuica’s mission is to draw up a “new pact for the Mediterranean” that would result in strengthened multi-sector partnerships: energy, migration, security, transport, and other areas of mutual interest. This involves investment projects that may support renewable energy production infrastructure projects in North Africa. The green output of which could then be imported into Europe to support the decarbonisation of industry. Migration issues are at the heart of these agreements, as we enter a time when Member States are seeking to find “innovative solutions” for the return of asylum seekers. The EU currently has such agreements with Tunisia and Egypt. In her hearing, Šuica announced that negotiations were underway with Jordan and Morocco. In response to concerns expressed by some members of the European Parliament about the risk that these agreements could condone human rights violations in the countries of origin, Šuica guaranteed that respect for European values, in particular human rights, would remain a central priority in these partnerships.

Regarding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Šuica will have her work cut out supporting Kallas in drawing up a new “European Strategy for the Middle East” to put forward a proposal for lasting peace in the Middle East. More concretely, Šuica’s mission is to prepare a “Reconstruction Plan for Gaza” which would form part of the “Multiannual Support Programme for the Palestinian Authority”, all of which has yet to be negotiated. In addition, the European Commission intends to rework its communication aimed at the southern neighbourhood in order to promote European action in the region and counter anti-European narratives. Pending further details, this “strategic communication plan” could be a more global strategy to combat the anti-European rhetoric propagated in Africa by China or Russia, via its Moscow-affiliated paramilitary group Wagner.

Regarding demography, drawing on her five-year experience in the field, Šuica plans to implement a “demography toolbox” to help a number of Member States whose populations are declining and where the trend is not likely to be reversed. This applies in particular to seven Member States in Central and Eastern Europe, which have seen their population decline between 2022 and 2023. In its written answers to MEPs, the Commission states that “the toolbox aims to better reconcile family aspirations and paid work, to enable younger and older generations to flourish and, where appropriate, to contribute to filling labour shortages through legal immigration”. This toolbox aligns with other objectives of hers, along with that of Romanian Skills Commissioner Mînzatu, which is to improve the representation of young people, women, and older people in the labour market. For Šuica, demography and the renewal of the population on the labour market are intimately linked as “activity rates, particularly those of women and older workers, can partially offset the decline in the working-age population.”

On Tuesday 5 November, she passed the traditional Commissioners’ hearing without a hitch, and the College of Commissioners obtained the approval of the European Parliament on 27 November. Šuica’s work has now begun, with the first test of this new portfolio scheduled for the publication of the Mediterranean Pact.

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