President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen has proposed a candidate to take over from Frans Timmermans as the commissioner for climate action.
Last week, Timmermans, the then vice-president of the European Commission with responsibility for the European Green Deal, officially resigned in order to run in a general election in his native Netherlands.
Following that, the role of commission vice-president for the European Green Deal and commissioner for climate action was temporarily taken over by Maros Sefcovic, the Slovakian politician who is also commission vice-president for interinstitutional relations.
These dual roles of Green Deal vice-president and climate action commissioner were combined in the form of Timmermans. However, they will now be separated.
While Sefcovic will continue in his vice-presidential role, the replacement for Timmermans that the Dutch government has put forward, Wopke Hoekstra, will take over as climate action commissioner.
However, this will be subject to confirmation by the Council of the EU and the European Parliament.
In an announcement today (Tuesday, August 29), von der Leyen said: “I have interviewed the candidate put forward by the Dutch government for the post of European Commissioner from the Netherlands, Mr. Wopke Hoekstra.
“Following this interview, I have decided to propose to the council and the European Parliament the appointment of Mr. Hoekstra to the post of commissioner,” von der Leyen added.
Hoekstra has served in the Dutch parliament since 2011. Since 2017, he has served in the Dutch cabinet, initially as minister for finance and latterly as minister for foreign affairs.
He is 47 years old, and his educational and career background is in law.
Von der Leyen said: “[Hoekstra’s] governmental experience will be a strong asset in particular for Europe’s climate diplomacy in the run-up to COP28 and for climate finance, as well as for the implementation of climate-related legislative instruments.”
The commission president added: “Mr. Hoekstra stressed during the interview his commitment to continuing an ambitious climate policy and to maintaining a social balance in all necessary joint efforts on the road to climate neutrality.”