Prime Minister Petteri Orpo (NCP) said on Saturday that the government will nominate Henna Virkkunen (NCP) as Finland's candidate for a seat on the next European Commission, as expected. He made the announcement during a speech at the National Coalition Party conference in Tampere.
Virkkunen, 52, has served as two terms in the cabinet, as Minister of Education and Minister for Transport and Local Government.
Orpo had said in advance that the next commission candidate would have to be a candidate in last weekend’s European Parliament election.
Last weekend, Virkkunen was re-elected for a third term as a member of the European Parliament. She garnered some 95,000 votes, just behind the vote total of the most popular NCP candidate, Mika Aaltola. The NCP earned four seats in the European Parliament, more than any other Finnish party.
Each of the 27 member states has its own commissioner. The governments of the EU member states officially appoint their own commissioner candidates after the member states and the European Parliament have chosen the new president of the commission.
The next commission’s term runs until 2029. The next Finnish commissioner's portfolio remains uncertain, but according to Orpo, several portfolios are of interest to Finland, especially under the themes of security and competitiveness, Helsingin Sanomat reports.
Former finance minister and SDP chair Jutta Urpilainen has been the Finnish commissioner since 2019, except in late 2023 and early 2024 when she took a leave of absence for an unsuccessful Finnish presidential bid.
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