Czech Trade and Industry Minister Jozef Sikela (STAN) is the government’s nominee to become the next Czech EU Commissioner, selected unanimously by the cabinet at a meeting yesterday, PM Petr Fiala (ODS) told journalists after the meeting.
According to Fiala, Sikela has proven his competence over the long term, and during the Czech EU Presidency, he showed that he is capable of solving problems at the European level. He is a relevant candidate with proven experience in the private sphere and in politics, the prime minister added.
In addition to Sikela, STAN also proposed newly elected MEP Danuse Nerudova, while the Pirates proposed former MEP Marcel Kolaja. “We are trying to achieve a portfolio that will be strong, where the Commissioner for the Czech Republic will have real powers. We are convinced that Jozef Sikela is the right candidate who can acquire and manage such a portfolio,” Fiala said.
The Prime Minister will now submit the nomination to the Chamber of Deputies’ Europe Committee. The government will then give its final approval, he said. After the relevant procedures at the European level, which include committee hearings, the European Parliament should vote on the entire commission in the second half of October, so that the commission’s mandate starts on 1 November, Fiala added.
Sikela thanked the cabinet for its trust, saying he considered the nomination an honour. “In recent years, we have built a position of a trustworthy, constructive partner in Europe,” he wrote on social media. “It is now time to transform this into an appropriate portfolio in the future composition of the European Commission in favour of the Czech Republic.”
STAN representatives welcomed the cabinet’s support for Sikela’s nomination at yesterday’s government meeting. However, they said they would have preferred if the government had also nominated Nerudova. They noted that the head of the Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, had expressed a preference for each country to nominate a woman and a man.
“I am glad that one of our nominees has won the support of the coalition, I would have preferred if both of them had,” said STAN leader and Interior Minister Vit Rakusan. The negotiating position would be stronger with a dual nomination, he said, adding that Sikela would undoubtedly be a very good EU commissioner regardless of his portfolio.
Fiala denied having received a request from von der Leyen to nominate both a man and a woman. There will undoubtedly be a tendency for men and women to be equally represented in the commission, which is natural and right, he added. The best strategy, he said, is to have one candidate.
He said he did not consider it tactful to say which specific portfolio the Czech Republic was seeking. “We want one in which decisions are actually made,” he said, adding that they are heading towards an economic portfolio.
So far, MP Lukas Vlcek (STAN) has been most frequently mentioned as a possible successor to Sikela as Industry Minister. Fiala said yesterday that there was plenty of time for a change, as the Commission can start in November at the earliest. Fiala said they would choose Sikela’s successor in agreement with STAN, and that he and Rakusan had agreed on the process.
Sikela, 57, worked in banking in Central and Eastern Europe for over 30 years before joining the government. From 2010 to 2015, he was CEO of the Slovak Savings Bank, and later became a member of the board of Erste Group. He left the board in 2019, and continued working for the group as an external advisor until the end of 2020.
