Denmark’s Jørgensen tapped for top EU energy and housing job

Dan Jørgensen is on course to become the EU’s next energy chief after European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced the former Danish climate minister would be commissioner-designate for energy and housing on Tuesday.

“His work will help to bring down energy prices, invest in clean energy and ensure that we cut our dependencies,” she said at a press conference.

“He will be the first-ever commissioner for housing looking at all the aspects from energy efficiency to investment and construction that define that topic,” von der Leyen added.

Jørgensen, a Social Democrat, served as climate and energy minister from 2019 to 2022 before moving into the more internationally focused job of global climate action and development minister. In that role, Jørgensen became a prominent negotiator at the annual United Nations COP climate summits.

During Jørgensen’s tenure as climate minister, Denmark adopted one of the world’s most ambitious climate targets — a 70 percent reduction of greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 compared to 1990 levels. The country also successfully began to transition workers away from oil and gas extraction jobs in the North Sea, while building a globally competitive wind industry.

Additionally, Jørgensen helped set up the Beyond Oil and Gas Alliance, a coalition of countries seeking to end fossil fuel exploration.

His earlier jobs include a stint as agriculture minister and nearly a decade spent in the European Parliament. As an MEP from 2004 to 2013, Jørgensen served as deputy chair of the environment committee, focusing on climate policies and animal welfare.

The selection was somewhat of a surprise to Brussels insiders. The Czech Republic’s Jozef Síkela and Spain’s Teresa Ribera were long discussed as top candidates for the job, which has grown in importance as the EU scrambles to ditch Russian fossil fuels.

The commissioner-designate will now face a confirmation hearing in the European Parliament, expected in October.