Commissioner for Enlargement and European Neighborhood Policy

The Commissioner for Enlargement and European Neighborhood Policy is a member of the European Commission . He is responsible for planned EU enlargements and leads negotiations with the candidate countries ( Iceland , Macedonia, Serbia , Turkey ) and the EU's neighbors in the Western Balkans . The department has existed since 1977, partly in connection with other responsibilities. From 1989 to 1993 there was no enlargement commissioner.

In the Barroso II Commission , which started work in February 2010, the Commissioner for Enlargement is also responsible for the European Neighborhood Policy, which until then was subordinate to the Commissioner for External Relations . However, the Enlargement Commissioner must act in close consultation with the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy , who has the main role for the entire common foreign and security policy .

Olivér Várhelyi has been the incumbent on the von der Leyen Commission since December 1, 2019 .

Previous incumbent

Surname	Term of office	Nat. Political party	European party	Country	other responsibilities
Olivér Várhelyi	since 2019	Fidesz	EPP	Hungary
Johannes Hahn	2014-2019	ÖVP	EPP	Austria	European neighborhood policy
Štefan Füle	2010-2014	ČSSD related parties	SPE related parties	Czech Republic	European neighborhood policy
Olli Rehn	2004-2010	center	ELDR	Finland
Günter Verheugen	1999-2004	SPD	SPE	Germany
Ride Bjerregaard	1995-1999	SD	SPE	Denmark	environment
Hans van den Broek	1993-1995	CDA	EPP	Netherlands	External relations
Lorenzo Natali	1985-1989	DC	EPP	Italy	Collaboration and development
Karl-Heinz Narjes	1981-1985	CDU	EPP	Germany	Internal market , industrial innovation, customs union , consumer protection , nuclear safety
Lorenzo Natali	1977-1981	DC	EPP	Italy	Environment , nuclear safety

Web links

• Official website of DG ELARG (German / English )