Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez announced Sara Aagesan as secretary of state for energy to replace former Ecological Transition Minister Teresa Ribera, who will now become a vice-president in Ursula von der Leyen’s second Commission.
Aagesen will join the progressive executive with a large representation of women.
The new minister will maintain Ribera’s “rigour, professionalism and expert knowledge, Sánchez (PSOE/S&D) announced in a brief appearance where he criticised the main opposition party Partido Popular (PP/EPP) for its “lies and manoeuvres” that had Ribera’s nomination stalled.
For several weeks, the PP and the far-right Vox party, Madrid’s third force, tried to prevent Ribera’s candidacy from being approved by the European Parliament, taking their political battle with the PSOE in the national parliament to Brussels.
“Our loss (by Ribera) in Spain is the gain of the whole of Europe,” said the Spanish prime minister in a brief institutional statement from the Moncloa Palace, the seat of the executive, in Madrid.
According to Sánchez, who is also the leader of the PSOE, under Aagesen’s leadership, “Spain will continue to be a European and world reference in terms of a green and just transition”, showing that it is possible to grow and create wealth while reducing emissions and protecting the environment.
The head of the Spanish government also stressed that Aagesen would be the third vice president, recalling his commitment to gender parity in his executive.
Women hold several senior positions in Sánchez’s government with the left-wing Sumar platform: three vice-presidencies of the progressive government are held by women.
On the other hand, Sánchez stressed that by replacing Aagesen with Ribera, he was reaffirming his personal commitment to making the environmental and demographic challenges the top of his political agenda.
The Spanish leader also paid tribute to Ribera, one of his most loyal ministers and closest collaborators in recent years.
“I know with certainty that she (Ribera) will be an extraordinary, excellent first vice-president of the European Commission (…) overcoming lies and manoeuvres in the face of which truth and evidence have triumphed because Teresa Ribera’s career and good work are beyond doubt,” Sánchez stressed.
