Michael McGrath has dedicated the previous week absorbing information about his potential responsibilities if he were asked by the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, to adopt the EU justice portfolio. Having trained as an accountant, his two-decade political career in Cork has been primarily connected with financial matters. He championed the finance brief for Fianna Fáil for several years in opposition, then advanced to minister for public expenditure in 2020 and eventually took on the role of finance minister.
Upon stepping down from his role, McGrath was nominated by the Irish Government to be the next EU commissioner, with the intention of him being allocated a finance-focused portfolio. Within the European Union’s executive branch reorganisation overseen by Dr von der Leyen, McGrath was appointed commissioner for democracy, justice, and the rule of law.
The responsibilities of the aforementioned portfolio are currently prominent for driving the European Union’s attempts to reprimand member states infringing or weakening the rule of law. In the past half-decade, this has led to confrontations with Hungary’s right-wing prime minister, Viktor Orban, and Poland’s previous Law and Justice government. As the commissioner, McGrath is anticipated to maintain pressure on states such as Hungary and Slovakia, which has recently started to follow Orban’s lead, and this could possibly involve imposing more conditions on EU funding.
The justice role also encompasses consumer rights, with McGrath overseeing development of new legislation for better regulation of social media influencers. Additional duties will involve managing laws like the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and spearheading anti-corruption initiatives.
The current occupant of the role is Didier Reynders, ex-deputy prime minister and foreign affairs minister from Belgium. His commission diary from the previous year indicates meetings with representatives from several tech superpowers, including Meta and Google, for discussions on data protection regulations.
Given the high density of major tech companies established in Ireland, the nation is typically excluded from any portfolios that overlap with this sector, such as competition.
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Certain aspects of Mr. McGrath’s incoming role could result in interface, and possibly, disagreements, with tech behemoths. Dr von der Leyen has stated that part of his role would involve championing the initiative for a “European democracy shield” to combat external disruptions. This could cause Mr McGrath to confront social media powerhouses concerning the use of their platforms by foreign agencies to meddle with elections and circulate misinformation.
Before assuming the position of the new commissioner, Mr McGrath must first undergo a hearing in the European Parliament, scheduled to happen in the forthcoming weeks.