EU Commission Vice-President Frans Timmermans has been officially elected head of the Labour Party/GreenLeft list in the upcoming election in the Netherlands. Timmermans received 92% of the votes and has officially resigned from his EU post.
Following the vote, Timmermans submitted his resignation to EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, who thanked her colleague for his years of successful work as Commissioner for the European Green Deal.
“I thank Frans Timmermans for his passionate and tireless work to make the European Green Deal a reality... Thanks to his excellent contribution and strong personal engagement, we have made great strides towards meeting the EU's objectives to become the first climate-neutral continent," President von der Leyen said in a statement.
Asked about the economic conditions of his resignment from the Commission, a spokesperson explained on Tuesday that Timmermans is entitled to a transitional allowance of 40 - 60 % of his basic salary for a period of 6 months to 2 years. The allowance is subject to taxation. He was born in 1961 and will also receive a pension after he reaches the retirement age.
The role of Executive Vice-President for the European Green Deal as been passed onto fellow EU Commission Vice-President Maroš Šefčovič. Von der Leyen has also temporarily assigned the portfolio responsibility for Climate Action Policy to Vice-President Šefčovič until the appointment of a new Member of the Commission of Dutch nationality.
“Following a successful legislation phase, the focus of Executive Vice-President Šefčovič will be the successful roll-out of the European Green Deal as Europe's growth strategy,” she wrote in her statement. “Our priority will be to strengthen Industrial Clean Innovation, upgrading our grids and infrastructure for the energy transition and access to Critical Raw Materials.”
She also sent a formal letter to the Prime Minister of the Netherlands including a request to suggest names of a female and a male candidate for a new Commissioner of Dutch nationality. The appointment of a new Dutch Commissioner will be made by the Council in agreement with the European Parliament and the Commission President after a hearing in the Parliament.
Leading Dutch progressive wing
On Tuesday, 92% of the nearly 38,000 members of the Greens and Labour coalition, expressed their support for Timmermans. There were no opposing candidates, but members had a chance to express their opinion on Timmermans' leadership credentials.
In total, 51.5% of all members cast a vote. It is not known how the support was divided between the Greens (GroenLinks) or Labour Party (PvdA) members, a spokesperson reported.
Earlier, supporters were positive about cooperation between the two parties: almost 92% of GroenLinks members supported cooperation, while for the PvdA it was 88 per cent.
Earlier, the list committee called Timmermans "the ideal candidate to convincingly promote the joint green and social ideology of the GroenLinks-PvdA."
Timmermans was previously active in Dutch politics, including as foreign minister. On Tuesday night, Timmermans will address members of both parties.
On November 22, the Dutch go to the polls to elect a new parliament.
