It’s been a hell of a ride for Ursula von der Leyen’s first team atop the European Commission from 2019-2024.
Those five years were dominated by one war on Europe’s doorstep and another in the Middle East, an ongoing energy crisis and a response to a global pandemic, as the Commission attempted to deliver on climate promises, advances on artificial intelligence and even a cure for cancer.
In a note to staff, von der Leyen praised the outgoing Commission for fulfilling a promise to be “bold and ambitious” in meeting the aspirations of EU citizens and tackling the challenges ahead. They exceeded that promise, she added.
How do those internal compliments match up with what was promised and ultimately delivered?
Here’s POLITICO’s report card on the outgoing Commission. See who flunked and who passed the five-year policy test.
Ursula von der Leyen, president
Verdict: Von der Leyen went from an unknown and an unexpected choice to helm the EU executive, to one of its most powerful leaders in recent history during her first term. She used the pandemic and the fallout of Russia’s war on Ukraine to tighten her grip on Europe’s decision-making process and to elevate her own public image beyond the corridors of Brussels institutions. While also criticized, her centralized decision-making helped Europe react quickly to crises. For her second term, as the war in Ukraine continues with no end in sight, she’ll have to steer the bloc through a second Donald Trump presidency while ensuring a more competitive EU versus the U.S. and China and delivering on the bloc’s climate targets.
Grade: B-
Valdis Dombrovskis, executive vice president for an economy that works for people and European commissioner for trade
Verdict: The former Latvian premier could be living proof of the adage that the length of a job’s title is inversely proportional to its influence. Handed a broad remit covering the economy and trade, Dombrovskis lacked the power to make a difference as the EU faced major headwinds. First the pandemic, and then Russia’s war on Ukraine not only ravaged growth but led to a cost-of-living crisis. Meanwhile, an increasingly hostile geopolitical climate put free-trade deals out of reach as protectionism took hold. Still, Dombrovskis kept his composure — and famed poker face — through the ups and downs of his term. That dependable showing has now landed him another impossible task in von der Leyen’s second cabinet: simplifying the EU’s rampant bureaucracy.
Grade: C+
Margrethe Vestager, executive vice president for a Europe fit for a digital age
Verdict: Vestager started her second term as antitrust chief with a fearsome reputation for fining big tech. Armed with a larger role ruling over tech policy, she pushed through landmark digital rules to rein in tech giants that have forced them to change their businesses. State aid proved more of a challenge during the pandemic, as governments lobbied for and against softer rules to allow more subsidies. One blot on her reign was Internal Market Commissioner Thierry Breton, who called himself the “digital enforcer” and often sniped with her over key projects such as trying to unlock funding for chips.
Grade: A-
Josep Borrell, vice president and high representative of the European Union for foreign affairs and security policy
Verdict: The Spanish socialist was dealt a tough hand as the EU’s top diplomatic envoy. Halfway through his term, two wars broke out that would come to dominate his time in office. Borrell’s staunch backing for Ukraine earned broad support among EU capitals, but his statements on Israel made him an adversary of the conservative European People’s Party (EPP), the EU’s most powerful political group. Critics argue that Borrell has little to show for his advocacy on the Middle East, while other areas such as the Western Balkans suffered neglect. Such critiques, combined with Borrell’s propensity for gaffes, make for a mixed report.
Grade: C
Věra Jourová, vice president for values and transparency
Verdict: The Czech politician was at the center of two major battles, one offline and one online. Offline, she fronted the European Commission’s tussle with Viktor Orbán’s government in Hungary over the rule of law. Online she led Brussels’ fight against disinformation and foreign interference and in support of media freedom across the bloc. A staunch liberal and a feisty commissioner, Jourová was known to shake the tree in interviews, terming Elon Musk a “promoter of evil” and in June calling out the Italian government of Giorgia Meloni for its handling of media freedom. In Brussels she maintained friendly relations with her peers and kept her complicated relationship with Justice Commissioner Didier Reynders mostly out of the public arena.
Grade: B+
Stella Kyriakides, health and food safety
Verdict: At first glance, Kyriakides pushed through more EU health policy than her predecessors, including new legislation to assess medicines, to finance the drugs regulator and to integrate EU health data, as well as starting a mammoth overhaul of pharma rules. She also led quick revisions of rules governing drugs and disease agencies amid the Covid pandemic and led initiatives on mental health and cancer. Health officials and experts praised her work, which included confronting Big Pharma, but lamented that her EU public health legacy wasn’t more substantial, as illustrated by the surge in vaccine hesitancy and the lack of progress on tobacco legislation.
Grade: A-
Maroš Šefčovič, vice president for the European Green Deal, interinstitutional relations and foresight
Verdict: After 15 years on the European Commission, Šefčovič is now as much a part of the Berlaymont as stale breakfast-meeting croissants. This term he applied his experience to a dazzling array of messy briefs. From EU-U.K. relations to the only slightly less fraught interactions among EU institutions, von der Leyen believed Šefčovič’s callused hands were impervious to thorns. She turned to him to replace Frans Timmermans just as the consensus around the Green Deal broke down; on climate issues, meanwhile, he mostly took a back seat to Wopke Hoekstra (see below), but did help von der Leyen by taking on important listening tours with farmers and discontented industry groups. He’ll be back for a fourth term, nabbing the coveted trade portfolio.
Grade: B
Wopke Hoekstra, climate action
Verdict: Green groups were deeply skeptical that the Dutchman taking on the climate brief for the last year of the first von der Leyen Commission would prove a fellow traveler. His CV, after all, listed stints at Shell and McKinsey before he joined the Dutch government. But Hoekstra flipped the script and proved an able, at times even passionate defender of the EU’s climate goals. His penchant for carbon pricing is well known, and helped him not only keep his job but also expand it to include a taxation sidebar.
Grade: A-
Janusz Wojciechowski, agriculture and rural development
Verdict: Poland’s farm chief has been called one of the worst commissioners in EU history. He tried, but ultimately the 70-year-old politician didn’t have the negotiating chops to reform the bloc’s broken agrifood system. As the sole hard-right commissioner, Wojciechowski was isolated early on, a status that was only worsened by his micromanaging boss, Frans Timmermans, who was a backseat driver during the green transition for agriculture. The disgruntled Pole ended up traveling home often, contradicting his colleagues and increasingly pandering to farmer lobbies. He dreams of being remembered in Brussels; he’ll be lucky if he’s forgotten.
Grade: D-
Paolo Gentiloni, economy
Verdict: The former Italian prime minister’s oversight of the EU economy came during an extraordinary period that included an unprecedented pandemic, the Ukraine war and a subsequent inflation crisis that tore through the bloc. These unique circumstances produced some radical political steps from the bloc’s executive, including the suspension and reform of the European Commission’s fiscal-rule regime and the creation of an €800 billion cash pot to help national economies recover from the multiple crises. While that bold response forestalled a broader economic crisis, it was not uncontroversial. Independent watchdogs said they were unable assess the impact of the new EU funds, while growth remains modest. On other matters, such as taxation, Gentiloni’s term was far less ambitious in its goals and centered more on international deals, given previous failures to convince governments to back more radical domestic amendments.
Grade: B+
Mairead McGuinness, financial services, financial stability and capital markets union
Verdict: McGuinness became a commissioner unexpectedly in 2020 after Phil Hogan resigned over the “Golfgate” scandal, as Ireland was downgraded from the powerful trade portfolio to financial services. But the former journalist and MEP made it work: She oversaw the release of new finance legislation, from banking and markets rules to clearing and green finance, focusing on policies that chimed with the public. She was hamstrung by industry lobbying, especially on making investing easier and cheaper for regular people, where a massive pre-emptive lobbying effort killed off the most ambitious parts of her proposals before the Commission had a chance to publish them. Known as energetic and personable, McGuiness connected with people, but often found herself in the crosshairs of more powerful EU figures on control of sanctions oversight and the digital euro.
Grade: B
Helena Dalli, equality
Verdict: A member of the Malta Labour Party, Dalli became Europe’s first equality commissioner in 2019, delivering significant contributions during her mandate. She pushed for major directives such as the European Disability Rights Strategy and a directive to ensure equal pay transparency for men and women. In April, the largest European women’s rights network applauded her landmark directive on combating violence against women, while another equality group highlighted Dalli’s failure to criminalize forced sterilization as a missed opportunity. Her achievements drew little fanfare, however, and Dalli’s obscure public presence and minimal visibility may ultimately have proven her greatest weakness.
Grade: B+
Nicolas Schmit, jobs and social rights
Verdict: To his fans, Schmit was a knowledgeable commissioner whose experience as Luxembourg’s minister for employment coupled with his knowledge of Brussels politics helped him deliver. His achievements included the minimum wage directive, which was aimed at improving wages and collective bargaining across the bloc, and the hard-fought platform workers directive, meant to improve the working rights of users of digital labor platforms such as Uber and Deliveroo. To his detractors, however, he was a von der Leyen yes-man — even when challenging her as Commission president — who didn’t fight hard enough as a member of the College of Commissioners to push for more stringent regulations on social rights.
Grade: B
Iliana Ivanova, innovation, research, culture, education and youth
Verdict: Admittedly, a year is not a lot of time in which to leave your mark as a European commissioner, especially when you’ve been handed the innovation portfolio. The Bulgarian, who filled in for compatriot Mariya Gabriel as commissioner in September 2023, highlighted the challenges that plague researchers and startups, such as critical technology leaking to China or difficulties in tapping growth funding — and did so in a more media-savvy way than her predecessor. But in arriving so late in the mandate she was unable to differentiate herself by attaching her name to a major rulebook, or by claiming credit for any research, innovation or startup success. She now returns to her previous job — underlining her status as a placeholder.
Grade: D+
Olivér Várhelyi, neighbourhood and enlargement
Verdict: Just like Hungarian PM Viktor Orbán in the European Council, Várhelyi was the black sheep on the Commission. His enlargement portfolio rose to the top of the political agenda after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, but he was widely seen as too partial in reviewing the efforts of Ukraine and other countries to join the bloc. The former Hungarian ambassador to the EU also triggered a major controversy when he announced a freeze on aid to the Palestinian territories in the wake of Hamas’ attack on Israel on Oct. 7 last year. He was immediately overruled by EU foreign affairs chief Borrell and, later, by von der Leyen.
Grade: F
Jutta Urpilainen, international partnerships
Verdict: The Finn cemented the EU’s new approach to third countries via the flagship Global Gateway initiative, which mobilized up to €300 billion in public and private funds to finance infrastructure projects abroad, thereby offering those nations an alternative to China’s strategic largesse in its Belt and Road Initiative. But there were doubts whether Urpilainen had the political clout to defend Europe’s response to geopolitical competition within and outside the bloc. The supporters of Global Gateway have high hopes that upcoming Czech Commissioner Jozef Síkela will be an upgrade for the department overseeing Global Gateway.
Grade: C-
Adina Vălean, transport
Verdict: An MEP since 2007, Vălean is in her element in the European Parliament. As a transport commissioner, however, she seemed out of sync, at times even bored with the legislation she was tasked with defending. Lawmakers and diplomats complained she lacked vision for transport, with one official singling her out as the most absentee commissioner within the EU executive even as her department churned out a long list of legislative texts. The commissioner won praise from some for her Covid certificates, which rebooted travel, and for the “green lanes” allowing trucks to circulate when countries shut their borders in futile attempts to halt the spread of Covid. And when Russia invaded Ukraine and halted its sea trade, the “solidarity lanes” that bolstered Ukrainian land exports were a key part of the EU’s response to the war.
Grade: C-
Virginijus Sinkevičius, environment, oceans and fisheries
Verdict: The youngest-ever commissioner performed well in what turned out to be a relatively difficult portfolio, in which he had to balance economic interests with environmental protection. Lithuania’s former economy minister fought to get the contentious Green Deal legislation through, including new rules to prevent imports of products driving global deforestation; legislation to cut packaging waste or make consumer goods greener; air pollution limits; and attempts to boost the restoration of the natural environment. He was a strong advocate of the Green Deal, but failed to push through the much-awaited revision of the EU’s chemicals framework regulation (REACH) or set sweeping new rules, as promised, to decrease microplastic pollution. Overall, though, whatever you think of the Green Deal, his was a massive political achievement.
Grade: A-
Kadri Simson, energy
Verdict: Simson had a tough term with Russia’s war in Ukraine and the resulting energy crisis. But her biggest struggle was to establish herself in a Commission where key parts of her role were hoovered up by von der Leyen, ex-Green Deal chief Timmermans and Šefčovič. Her advocacy of greater support for Ukraine’s beleaguered energy grid in the face of Russian attacks deserves credit, and she was able to chart a course through stacks of complex legislation without any major crises. But quiet competence is rarely enough to stand out in a crowded field.
Grade: C
Thierry Breton, internal market and services
Verdict: In charge of a huge portfolio spanning tech and industrial policy, the French commissioner vowed to use his experience as a tech chief executive to get things done for the EU. That formula worked for a time, with Breton coordinating EU medical supply production early in the Covid pandemic and helping to deliver the AI Act, the world’s first binding regulation on artificial intelligence. But Breton’s aggressive approach to EU politics and his repeated challenges to von der Leyen worked against him in the end, leading to his early exit from the Commission.
Grade: C+
Margaritis Schinas, vice president for promoting our European way of life
Verdict: The Greek politician’s job was primarily focused on a new package of rules on how the bloc would manage migration. Schinas duly delivered the package, which had been under discussion for nearly a decade. In the final months of his term, however, 15 EU capitals demanded further changes to the bloc’s rules on migration, suggesting that the Migration Pact was not all it was cracked up to be. On other aspects of his job, namely upholding justice and core values, Schinas let other commissioners take the lead.
Grade: B-
Dubravka Šuica, democracy and demography
Verdict: Šuica had one of the Commission’s more loosely defined portfolios, with a focus on improving EU democracy. A key deliverable was organizing the Conference on the Future of Europe — a series of debates geared at making the EU feel more democratic, which the Croatian politician delivered in 2022. While the bloc is implementing much of the low-hanging fruit from the conference, it has balked at larger changes, such as plans to scrap unanimous decision-making in foreign policy. While her first term at the Commission was low-key, Šuica won von der Leyen’s confidence to earn a second term in the Berlaymont.
Grade: B+
Janez Lenarčič, humanitarian aid and crisis management
Verdict: Slovenia was tasked with improving the EU’s response to emergencies such as natural disasters and promoting humanitarian law. Lenarčič was an early pick to serve on von der Leyen’s Covid response team, where he was overshadowed by commissioners with more power — namely Breton and von der Leyen herself. On humanitarian law, Lenarčič established himself as a key critic of Israel’s military offensive in Gaza. On crisis management, however, he failed to make much of an impact, not least during the recent deadly floods in Valencia, Spain.
Grade: B
Elisa Ferreira, cohesion and reforms
Verdict: The Portuguese socialist was in charge of EU spending in poorer regions at a time when the program was overshadowed by the bloc’s €800 billion post-pandemic recovery fund, which largely neglected the local impact of investments. Ferreira’s influence was diminished by von der Leyen’s disinterest in regional policy and, more generally, by multiple crises that shifted attention elsewhere. The EU’s cohesion budget was used to fund medical equipment during the Covid crisis and assistance to Ukrainian refugees — undermining its core task of reducing inequalities across regions. While Ferreira passionately defended regional funding against growing criticism, she failed to articulate a vision of how to structure this policy in the future.
Grade: C
Johannes Hahn, budget
Verdict: The experienced Austrian politician played a role in the EU’s most politically sensitive decisions, including funding to Ukraine, post-Covid financing and withholding EU cash to Hungary over its democratic backsliding. Hahn got the job done in most cases, even though von der Leyen frequently stole the limelight. In his five years, however, he achieved little progress on the introduction of EU-wide taxes to repay the bloc’s Covid debt, largely due to national resistance. In his final months in power he became reticent and arguably gave senior officials in his department too much freedom to float radical ideas that were politically toxic. With the EU’s new budget looming, Hahn’s Polish successor Piotr Serafin is likely to wield comparatively greater power.
Grade: C
Ylva Johansson, home affairs
Verdict: The blunt Swedish politician found a niche in what could be called both a broad and a narrow remit by focusing much of her attention on Europe’s approach to tech. A high-profile commissioner, Johansson called for tech companies to better screen their platforms for terrorism and child pornography, and urged Europol to process content and as a transformed digital agency. She struggled to oversee migration, a portfolio guarded closely by national governments, but stood strong in holding them to account for their policies, including slamming Greece for reportedly forcing migrants onto an emergency raft and abandoning them in the Aegean Sea in 2023.
Grade: A-
Didier Reynders, justice
Verdict: A Belgian political veteran, Reynders played his Berlaymont role in overseeing the EU’s high-profile legal stand-off with Hungary over the rule of law without — crucially — upstaging his boss. Known in his home country as Mr. Teflon for his ability to shake off political scandals, Reynders’ success as commissioner meant he steered clear of political live wires, as seen in his muted responses to national spyware scandals. One failure: Reynders emerges from the job without having lined up another high-profile gig, having lost — for the second time — his bid to lead the Council of Europe in the summer.
Grade: C
Max Griera, Sejla Ahmatovic, Barbara Moens, Nicholas Vinocur, Alessandro Ford, Douglas Busvine, Kathryn Carlson, Pieter Haeck, Gregorio Sorgi, Izabella Kaminska, Giovanna Faggionato, Helen Collis, Louise Guillot, Laurens Cerulus, and Aoife White contributed reporting.
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