María Luís Albuquerque travelled to Brussels to meet Ursula von der Leyen in person in September and this “face-to-face contact” helped her to secure what the PSD and the Government present as “the best portfolio for this Barroso”. “There was chemical Between the two of them, the Commission President was very impressed and made everything easier,” a European source familiar with the process told the Observer. The former Finance Minister managed to keep the portfolio of Union of Financial Services and Savings and Investment — an area that particularly irritates Portuguese socialists, but which is in fact revenge for what he considers to have been an insult by António Costa.

Three main factors, European sources explain to the Observer, helped Portugal to have a better portfolio: bargaining power by Luis Montenegro; himself curriculum María Luís Albuquerque in the financial sector; and the fact of being a woman in an electoral college that, contrary to what Ursula von der Leyen intended, was far from parity, with only 11 women out of 27 (40%)

In the hard core of the Government, this portfolio is celebrated as a great achievement for Portugal and a personal victory By Luis Montenegro. He who had already given proof of his influence together of Ursula von der Leyen and the European People’s Party (EPP), the political family to which the PSD and CDS belong, after having been important in defending António Costa’s candidacy for the post of President of the European Council.

Negotiation was always done directly between the Prime Minister and the President of the European Commission. In fact, as has been usual since he became Prime Minister, there was no leak of information about the portfolio that María Luís would occupy. According to the Observer, the Prime Minister also presented the name of a man – as required by the unwritten rules imposed by Von der Leyen, but left the indication from the beginning that the leading candidate and desired by the Government.

It was even circulated in the corridors of Brussels that Portugal would receive the portfolio of Fisheries and Oceans (and then the current Minister of Agriculture, Jose Manuel Fernandezwas highlighted as a possibility), but Montenegro (who never wanted Pesca) tried sharpen Von der Leyen’s options in prioritizing the choice of María Luís Albuquerque, who has a profile focused on financial areas. Also Miguel Poiares Mature He was pointed out with some insistence as a candidate, but he was not contacted or surveyed for this purpose.

The fact that it was Finance minister in a particularly demanding period of national life and with experience at European level having participated, as a government official, in meetings of the Eurogroup and the Ecofin He also intervened in the election. “The fact that he speaks well English “This also surprised Von der Leyen, who does not have this experience with all commissioners,” a European source told the Observer.

“She is one of them, she talks like them, she thinks like them. And Von der Leyen immediately realised that she would be like them. fish in the water in a folder like this,” adds the same source. Maria Luis Albuquerque arrives at this stage with reinforced authority and recognition, according to information provided by the Observer to a source from the Executive headed by Luis Montenegro, Maria Luis Albuquerque will report directly to Ursula von der Leyen.

The German, in fact, praised the Portuguese: “Maria Luís Albuquerque will be the European Commissioner for Financial Services and the Savings and Investment Union and this will be vital “to complete our Capital Markets Union and increase our savings and investment,” Ursula von der Leyen said at a press conference on the sidelines of the European Parliament plenary session in the French city of Strasbourg.

The signs of Montenegro and Maria Luis

Even before meeting the President of the European Commission, Maria Luis Albuquerque was already hoping to have a portfolio within her comfort zone. Three days after being announced as a candidate for Commissioner by Luis Montenegro, the former minister confessed: “I have a preference [por uma pasta]but I’m not going to share.” He then admitted that Ursula Von der Leyen had a “difficult puzzle”in order to meet the diverse demands of the Member States and ensure a geographical and gender balance.

Even so, one of the major measures he defended was the creation of a Single Capital Market, one of the missions which has now been attributed to her by Ursula von der Leyen. Other priorities, which I also spoke about at the Summer University on 31 August, are the banking union and the European Deposit Guarantee Scheme. “Both the Draghi report and the Letta report point out that these are key areas for to energize the internal market,” a European source told the Observer.

Proof that it was a folder that Montenegro aspired His public statements have been made for a long time, as he was the leader of the opposition to António Costa’s government. Already as Prime Minister, and in April this year, a few days after taking office, Montenegro took advantage of the preparatory debate for the European Council on 17 and 18 April to highlight his priority.

“In a challenging geopolitical context and accelerated climate and digital transition, the single market [da União Europeia] “The competitiveness and leadership of the European economy at a global level is a fundamental factor,” said Luis Montenegro, defending the urgency of “moving forward in the deepening of the Capital Markets Union.”

On his first official visits as Prime Minister, alongside the French Emmanuel Macron or from German Olaf ScholzLuis Montenegro has always stressed the importance of taking more decisive steps to deepen the single market and the capital market union for the European economy.

Future Commissioner Maria Luis defended the passive attitude, criticised Costa and anticipated a difficult task in Brussels

The reunion with history and revenge against Costa

Maria Luís Albquerque finally takes revenge on the Socialist Party, which has been attacking her practically since her election was confirmed. Despite António Costa (who was in the return A socialist and former PSD minister during the social-democratic return to office, after having wished “all the best to Maria Luis Albuquerque”, the candidate for commissioner did not spare the largest opposition party at the time, nor even the future president-elect of the European Council.

María Luís Albuquerque stated that “if there is something that our country must commit to, it is to support Portuguese occupy positions of greater importance for the European institutions (…) We must first consider whether he is the candidate of Portugal and then consider whether he is the candidate of the party that is in government or not, first he is the candidate of Portugal.”

Later, the former Minister of Finance batteries aimed at the socialistssuggesting that in 2021 there was no commitment from the Portuguese government, led by António Costa, it did not do the work it should have done to support a Portuguese woman for the presidency of the European Capital Markets Supervisor (ESMA): herself. “An Italian, a German and a Portuguese. The impasse lasted for more than six months because Italy and Germany had a blocking minority. In these circumstances, the solution is usually to turn to the third candidate. For this, political support is needed. And I did not do it,” she lamented.

It is also a kind of reunion between Maria Luis Albuquerque and history. In the past, the former Minister of Finance was very close to be a curator. In February 2020, at the presentation of Carlos Moedas’ book (Suão Wind: Portugal and Europe), Pedro Passos Coelho publicly revealed this episode, confiding that the current president of the Lisbon City Council was, in fact, Jean Claude-Juncker’s second choice.

As Passos Coelho said at the time, it all started when the President of the European Commission, Jean Claude-Juncker, “came to kill” and said to him: “What do you think of so-and-so?” (Passos did not say it in the session, but he was talking about Silva Peneda, a personal friend of Juncker). To which Passos replied: “Jean Claude, he has no legs to walk, it is difficult to explain, but he has no legs to walk.” Juncker replied: “Then it has to be so-and-so.” Maria Luis Alburquerque.” Passos immediately said: “She is the Minister of Finance, she cannot be one.” After some reflection, Passos agreed to “evaluate” the hypothesis, especially since Portugal would have the portfolio for the European semester and would occupy the vice-presidency.

Unfortunately for Maria Luis (and fortunately for Carlos Moedas), Pedro Passos Coelho understood that he could not release his minister at a time when the BES (now Novo Banco) was experiencing a situation that was causing the greatest concern. The then Prime Minister had to tell Juncker that I couldn’t lose the Minister of Finance when announcing the bankruptcy of a bank. And thus he managed to impose his idea on the Luxembourger: Carlos Moedas.

Curiously, this public revelation had some effects on the internal life of the PSD. You won’t have liked it nothing when Pedro Passos Coelho, invited to present his book, took the same opportunity to say that Maria Luís Albuquerque and not him had been the first choice for the European Commission; even today the mayor believes that Passos said what he said to the penalize for the public praise he had given to António Costa. In any case, ten years after Carlos Moedas – and not María Luís Albuquerque – took the flight to Brussels, it is now the turn of the former Finance Minister to join the European Commission.

The last step

The last step remains to be completed: passing the scrutiny of the MEPs. The European Parliament does not evaluate individual commissioners, only the college as a whole, but the hearings of individual committees yield opinions that have been decisive in the past. As late as 2019, the European Parliament’s Legal Affairs Committee failed to pass the scrutiny of the 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 this case, the PCP and BE have already promised to shoot the former PSD minister when she goes through the European Parliament’s control mechanism after the latest episode surrounding TAP. The position that the PS MEPs will have when she is subject to scrutiny in Brussels remains a a strangerAs the Observer has already written, there is talk of failures in TAP’s oversight.

The European delegation of the PSD does not want to encourage talks on this matter. For the Social Democrats, as summarized by Luis Montenegro himself, the report of the General Inspection of the Treasury (IGF) on the sale of TAP did not show any “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 This involves Costa. In other words: it is to be expected that the socialists will now behave with a minimum of reciprocity.