European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen entrusted a financial portfolio to a woman known for administering tough fiscal discipline during Portugal’s sovereign debt crisis.
Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has named former Portuguese finance minister Maria Luís Albuquerque to direct the influential financial services portfolio, a proposal that’s already raised concerns over conflicts of interest.
Entrusted by Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Tuesday (September 17) with unlocking private investment, as part of plans to create an EU “savings and investment union,” Albuquerque, like all prospective commissioners, must now be grilled and approved by MEPs.
They’re likely to examine her previous corporate work and the privatisation of TAP, the Portuguese national airline, during her tenure as finance minister from 2013-2015.
Brussels-based corporate watchdog Corporate Europe Observatory (CEO) said Albuquerque’s nomination was a “major conflict of interest”, noting that she had moved from her finance minister post to work in a UK-based agency that handled €300mn of bad debts linked to Banif, a Portuguese bank bailed out in 2015.
Those concerns have been brushed off by von der Leyen, who yesterday told reporters that “It strengthens the position of Maria Albuquerque” that she’d had private sector experience, something the Commission chief said was “very important.”
If she’s successful, Albuquerque would succeed Ireland’s Mairead McGuinness in charge of the Commission’s financial-services department DG FISMA, pushing through some long-stalled reforms intended to build up the bloc’s capital markets and safeguard its banking system.
She’ll have to introduce an EU-wide savings product and scale up green finance – although the task of introducing a digital version of the euro has now been handed to Latvia’s Valdis Dombrovskis.
Aligned with the centre-right European People’s Party (EPP), Albuquerque, 56, is frequently associated with fiscal conservatism, favoring budget discipline, cutting public debt and economic stability.
From 2016, she joined Arrow Global, the London-based European fund manager specialising in sour loans, and in 2022 started working for Morgan Stanley Europe, in both cases as a non-executive director.
As finance minister, Albuquerque also served as a member of the board of governors at the African Development Bank, the European Stability Mechanism, a permanent rescue fund created in 2012, and the European Investment Bank.
Her political tenure was marked by admiration from allies and contempt from the opposition, with the latter accusing her of forcing the country into poverty, bailing out banks while ruining social services like healthcare and education.
Reacting to the “crucial portfolio” assigned to Albuquerque, Prime Minister Luís Montenegro said it’s a “central issue for Europe and Portugal” with a view to diversifying sources of finance to promote economic growth and investment.
“This is essential for progress, for the sustainability of Europe’s social and economic project, and for the Union’s ability to meet the expectations, needs and interests of European and Portuguese citizens,” Montenegro said in a statement published on Tuesday.
Lawmaker Catarina Martins (Portugal/Left) criticised Albuquerque on X as “an agent of the troika and the financial system”, referring to the trio of Commission, European Central Bank and International Monetary Fund that enforced austerity programmes across the bloc.
“After Durão Barroso left the Commission for Goldman Sachs, the Social Democratic Party (PSD) once again embarrasses the country, with yet another revolving door scandal,” added Martins, referring to the former Portuguese Prime Minister who was Commission President from 2004 to 2014.
Maria van der Heide, head of EU policy at ShareAction, a charity promoting responsible investment, said the new Commissioner for financial services has a critical role to play in accelerating Europe’s transition.
“This means recognising the crucial role of the financial sector in this transition and ensuring investments are directed towards activities that drive real positive change,” said van der Heide.
“The stakes are high, and her [Albuquerque’s] leadership will be crucial if the EU is to meet its ambitious climate and social goals and remain competitive without sacrificing environmental and societal needs,” she added.
“The importance of her [Albuquerque’s] mandate cannot be overstated,” said Brussels-based lobby group the European Fund and Asset Management Association (EFAMA), noting the need for private investment to boost European competitiveness and fund the shift to a green, digital economy.
“Setting the right regulatory stage for future capital market success will be key and the next five-year mandate is a golden opportunity that should not be missed,” EFAMA added.
The Portuguese Commissioner-designate graduated in economics in 1991 from Universidade Lusíada, in Lisbon, and in 1997 gained a master’s degree in Monetary and Financial Economics from ISEG, Technical University of Lisbon.
