Orbán nominates scandal-ridden Olivér Várhelyi to the European Commission again

Following my recent consultation with Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, my nominee for the EU Commision is once again Olivér Várhelyi – Viktor Orbán announced on Monday on X (formerly Twitter).

"Over the past five years, Commissioner Várhelyi has proven that the EU is a positive force for change in its neighbourhood and beyond. He will do a great job" in the European Commission, the Prime Minister opined.

However, it is far from certain that Várhelyi will actually make it to the Commission since

• even before his appointment, he had a reputation for being a good professional, but also for being difficult and "incredibly rude to his subordinates";
• this was followed by reports that he was trying to steer certain candidate countries along and slow down others, always in line with the Hungarian government's views, despite the neutrality required of him by the EU treaties, a suspicion that Orbán had actually reinforced in advance with his own statements and promises;
• the European Parliament itself has called for an inquiry into Várhelyi's "deliberate efforts to circumvent and undermine the central importance of democratic and rule of law reforms in the EU accession countries";
• he also came into conflict with the Council over a remark about somebody being stupid;
• the European Commission itself had to refute his statement about the suspension of aid to the Palestinians;
• in May this year, his name disappeared from a Commission communiqué criticising the Georgian foreign agent bill, which has already been made public;
• a few days later, Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze outright accused Várhelyi of threatening him, but the Commissioner claimed that his words had been misinterpreted.

Each government sends one representative to the European Commission. Commission spokeswoman Arianna Podesta confirmed on Thursday that Von der Leyen had sent out letters to 25 countries that morning asking them to nominate a woman and a man by the end of August, unless the current commissioner was to be reappointed. (Of the 27 member states, Germany is represented by Von der Leyen herself, while Estonia is represented by Kaja Kallas, the candidate for High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, who had previously been decided on by the heads of state and government.) However, several member states had already indicated in advance who their commissioner would be.

The Commission President will interview the candidates and then decide who will be responsible for which area – whether it is one where the EU has strong competences or one where there is little to be achieved. Afterwards, Várhelyi will be heard by the European Parliament's (EP) committees dealing with the subject he is to be assigned. MEPs cannot formally reject a candidate, but at the end of the process, the EP has to vote on the whole body and it may indicate if it believes that there are any obstacles to someone being appointed. This allows the Commission President to change the person's portfolio or even request that the nominee's government recommend a replacement.

Among the Hungarian commissioners, the socialist László Kovács already had difficulties with the job back in the day. Although he complained of political games, he was given customs and taxation instead of the energy portfolio. In 2014, the first commissioner nominated under the Fidesz-KDNP government, Tibor Navracsics, would have been given only areas where the EU's competence is relatively weak. Although he was found fit to be a commissioner following his interview, his portfolio was amended and EU citizenship matters were taken off his task list. László Trócsányi, the first candidate nominated five years later was challenged on grounds of conflict of interest and was replaced by the Hungarian permanent representative to the EU, Olivér Várhelyi. He was entrusted with a particularly good position in enlargement and neighbourhood policy by von der Leyen, with whom Orbán was still in the same party family at the time, and whom he voted for as a candidate for Commission President in 2019.

At Friday's cabinet briefing, EU Affairs Minister János Bóka did not say which area they would target. He said that in an ideal world, the candidate's experience and expertise would determine the portfolio he or she would be given, and that perceived or real political conflicts should not play a role.