The socialist Teresa Riberaproposed by Ursula von der Leyen as Commissioner for Competition and Vice President for the Clean, Fair and Competitive Transition in the new European Executive, defended the abusive use of the Falcon military aircraft by the Government of Spain. “That’s what it’s for,” she stated publicly about the use of this aircraft, which is more polluting than other means (such as regular flights, trains or cars), and used by her and other ministers, along with the Super Puma helicopter even for short trips, that is, less than two and a half hours for which the Government wants to prohibit the plane if there is an alternative by train.
Asked at a press conference in Moncloa in October 2022 about whether the Government was contemplating less use of airplanes and other means of the Ministry of Defense, within a contingency plan to reduce energy consumption, the third vice president and minister for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge stated that “in matters related to the movements of people who work The Government always looks for the best optionincluding where appropriate when it is necessary to use the Government’s own means made available by the Ministry of Defense,” he stated.
Ribera stated that the use of these means, from the Falcon to the Airbus and also helicopters, “has been common, because that is what they are for,” he stated. Along with this, he added that “a different issue is that when there is an alternative and it is possible, it is done.”
However, its leader, Pedro Sánchez, has not complied with this consideration and has resorted to the Falcon and the Super Puma even on short journeys despite there being alternatives by train. For example, Sánchez traveled to Toledo on May 24, 2021 aboard the Super Puma helicopter to promote precisely its ecological proposal within the framework of the Spain 2050 Plan. After already advancing his intention to prohibit flights on journeys that can be made in two and a half hours by train, the President of the Government nevertheless chose an air means –more polluting than the train or car – to travel to the Castilian-La Mancha city more comfortably and quickly. The distance between Madrid and Toledo is around one hour by car or 30 minutes by train.
Meanwhile, in the PP they consider that Ribera’s appointment is a “bad choice” as vice president and commissioner for Competition. Sources from Genoa warn that “a bad minister cannot be a good commissioner.” And it is that «the Popular Party is not in favor of exporting the Sanchista agenda to the European Union,” as its spokesman, Miguel Tellado, said this Tuesday in Congress.
For the popular, «Teresa Ribera is hostage to her career and her policies at the head of the Transition Ministry, and as commissioner she would have to decide what path she wants for Europe: “If Sánchez’s agenda or Von der Leyen’s program”.
In this context, sources from Genoa explain that Ursula Von der Leyen has presented a College of Commissioners with a large presence of the European People’s Party and that respects the representation of the governments of the 27 Member States, continuing a model in which the president will set the Commission’s agenda.
Likewise, such party sources Alberto Núñez Feijóo They emphasize that the presentation of the College of Commissioners does not mean that Ribera is already vice president of the Commission. «Once the proposals have been presented, the Legal Affairs Commission (JURI) must review that there are no cases of incompatibility or conflicts of interest with the position they are going to represent. In the case of Ribera, the Commission will be in charge of defining whether there is a conflict of interest due to the appointment of her husband as a director of the CNMV,” recall the popular about Mariano Bacigalupo.
«If the candidates obtain a favorable verdict, they move on to the hearing phase (hearings), in which they must respond for 3 hours to questions from the presidents and members of the corresponding parliamentary commission,” the sources point out.
In this evaluation phase, each candidate is assessed based on their competence, their European commitment and their personal independence, including from their national governments, they add. «Teresa Ribera will have to demonstrate that she is capable of working for the Twenty-seven and not working for Sánchez’s interests. To be elected, she will have to obtain the support of at least two-thirds of the Parliamentary Commission. If she does not obtain it, an additional audit and a vote would be proposed to assess her suitability as a candidate,” they emphasize from Genoa.
Teresa Ribera, “enemy of the countryside”
Furthermore, according to the popular, «Teresa Ribera will have to learn that the European Commission is not Sánchez’s Council of Ministers, and cchange its belligerence against some industries “by negotiation, dialogue and agreement along the lines that Von der Leyen will set.”
Along with this, sources from Feijóo’s party understand that the socialist will have to “qualify her speech in relation to the Green Pact and the agricultural transition.” «We have maintained it throughout the entire European campaign: Teresa Ribera is the enemy of the field. Her policies are based on imposition of impossible conditions to comply for farmers and ranchers and criminalize fundamental sectors for Spain such as wine, meat or strawberries,” they highlight. «Their idea of a Green Deal and decarbonization is based on imposing regulations and sanctions and on criminalize primary sectors and it would not fit into a Commission that clearly follows another strategy,” they added.
