The road to the next European Commission is still long and could prove thorny for Maria Luís Albuquerque, the commissioner appointed by Luís Montenegro. The report by the General Inspectorate of Finance (IGF) revived the process of privatisation of TAP, carried out in 2015, when she was Minister of Finance, raising suspicions of criminality. The European Commission has not commented on the matter, but the Portuguese left does not seem willing to do so. forget This happened easily, not even in a European setting.

The portfolio that Maria Luís will be assigned in the future college of commissioners is not yet known, but it is already known that, between September and October, the nominated commissioner will have to undergo a process of public hearings in the European Parliament (like all the other candidates), at the same time as she will be heard in the Portuguese Parliament because of the privatisation process of TAP. A request made by the various political parties with parliamentary seats, as soon as the IGF report was published.

Asked by the Observer about the implications that the case could have for the appointment of Maria Luís Albuquerque, for the decision on the portfolio that will be assigned to her or even if any additional contact with the Government was necessary after the news in Portugal, the spokesperson for the European Commission He simply replied that the institution “Don’t comment The possible weakening of a Portuguese name does not seem to worry the left, however, which will not allow the matter to be forgotten, not even in Brussels.

In the PS, which headed the request for a parliamentary hearing for María Luís, the approach to the matter is still under study. In statements to the Observer, Marta Feared says to consider “premature make any judgment on the national appointment” of María Luís to the Commission, recalling that the process “is still long and detailedpassing through several phases, namely the assessment of the distribution of portfolios, the assessment of candidates’ conflicts of interest, the holding of hearings, the preparation of evaluation reports and, finally, the vote of the various political groups in the European Parliament.”

Among the socialists, a source in Brussels notes, the issue is seen “sensitive” And no one ignores that it is delicate for any MEP to make a commissioner from his country unviable. However, let us remember that the vote of the European Parliament will always depend on the political group, that is, the Socialists and Democrats will decide in placeThis could imply that the Portuguese MEPs elected by the PS are associated with a negative opinion of their political family regarding the name of Maria Luís.

According to the Rules of Procedure (Annex VII), the European Parliament does not assess individual Commissioners, but only the college as a whole, but individual committee hearings issue opinions that have been decisive in the past. As late as 2019, the European Parliament’s Legal Affairs Committee ruled against Commissioners appointed by the European Parliament. Romania and Hungary — for reasons of conflict of interest, following analysis of the declarations of interest that each candidate must submit.

In Brussels, the European delegation of the PSD does not want to hold talks on this matter. For the Social Democrats, as Luís Montenegro himself summed up, this report does not contribute anything.new data” in relation to what was already widely known, so the appointment of María Luís Albuquerque remains as solid as before.

And although no one says it openly and in these exact terms, it is important to remember that Luís Montenegro supported António Costa’s active candidacy for the presidency of the European Council and even defended his predecessor at a meeting with his partners from the European People’s Party (EPP), when reservations arose about the court case That involves Costa. Therefore, one would expect the socialists to behave now with a minimum of reciprocity.

PCP and BE are heating up the criticism. Many have already questioned the appointment

In public statements made last week in reaction to the election of Luís Montenegro, the parties focused mainly on the issue of memory of troikawhich they associated with Pedro Passos Coelho’s Finance Minister. But with the ever-toxic issue of TAP in the spotlight, the focus immediately changed. Criticisms from the Left Bloc and the PCP were very loud in recent days in relation to Maria Luis Albuquerque’s management of Finance, taking advantage of the moment she was appointed member of the Commission.

Also on Monday, on SIC News, Catarina Martins highlighted the connection “with this Government” of “many of the protagonists” of the privatization process of 2015 in which, she considered, “the public interest was at stake.” crushed”And, without anyone asking him, he insisted on remembering that “Maria Luis Albuquerque was also in this process in various ways and at various times and They all went wrong“It remains interesting that she is being granted a proposal for European Commissioner,” she concluded. Contacted by the Observer, Catarina Martins said that she is read the IGF report before taking a decision position.

The PCP, in a note published on the day the IGF report was announced, also noted that “it is still significant that one of the main political parties responsible for covering up this criminal privatisation – the then Minister of Finance – has just been proposed to the European Commission”. The communists devalue the question of nationality, considering that “this should not harm the scrutiny This must be done,” the party says when asked about the position of Portuguese MEPs on this issue.

Last week, the communist MEP João OliveiraHe had already criticised, in an article published in the newspaper “Avante!”, the way in which the name the Portuguese Government should propose for the Commission is being discussed, ironically referring to “criteria on an elastic scale associated with the ‘notoriety’ of the figure in question, the ‘recognition’ within and outside the borders, the academic ‘progress’, professional or institutional character”, for example.

It was not yet known that the name would be that of the former Minister of Finance and Oliveira had already warned that what the PCP considers important is to know whether or not the election would take into account “the necessary defense of policies that effectively defend the nation’s interests.” And among them he placed the agreement or not of the next commissioner with “the path of the dismantling and privatization of public services.”

And not only from the left was the moment of María Luís considered sensitive at this point, André Ventura also considered that the former minister “is very fragile”, attributing to Montenegro the responsibility of saying whether “she has the conditions to be appointed European Commissioner”, as well as to the Minister of Infrastructure, Miguel Pinto Luz, who was Secretary of State for Transport at the time of the privatisation of TAP.

The Observer wanted to know what Chega’s European delegation intended to do, but a source from António Tânger Corrêa’s office limited itself to saying that the party would wait for the European Parliament to decide on the matter.

At the weekend, in her speech at the PSD Summer University, even before the IGF report, Maria Luís Albuquerque had complained about the lack of solidarity in national politics when an international position is at stake. “If there is one thing our country must commit to, it is to support the Portuguese in occupying positions of greater importance to the European institutions,” he said at the time.

“First we must think about whether he is the candidate of Portugal and then think about whether he is the candidate of the party that is in the Government or not, first there is the candidate from portugal“, he also considered. It served as a reckoning with the past: he complained that, in 2021, he had run for the presidency of the European capital markets supervisor, after having failed due to the lack of “political support” from António Costa’s government. He may face the same obstacle in the near future.