The new EU Commission needs change, major trade union leader says

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen unveiled her plans for the new top team at the European Commission last week, but the reactions were mixed. Many politicians argued that the portfolios were too broad and overlapped each other.

The fear is that the upcoming commissioners will constantly step on each other’s toes, as many did in the previous mandate.

But the underlying question might actually be: why do we need 27 Commissioners? What would have to change at the political and administrative level to make the institution more efficient from a recruitment point of view?

Today, the president of one of the EU’s major trade unions, Renouveau & Démocratie, Cristiano Sebastiani, talks to Radio Schuman about the main recruitment problems the EU executive is facing.

On a lighter note, we explore Albania’s plan to establish a new microstate, set to become the smallest in the world.

Radio Schuman is hosted and produced by Maïa de la Baume, with journalist and production assistant Eleonora Vasques, audio editing by Zacharia Vigneron and music by Alexandre Jas.