Moedas moots future as MEP

Carlos Moedas has ruled out returning to the Commission or running for the European Parliament when his term ends next year, but said he may seek election in another five or ten years.

“I think that it’s probably time for me to go back to Portugal,” the science commissioner told Politico in an interview on November 22. “I really like the parliament, but I think I would probably like to come back to the parliament in five years or ten years, but not immediately after being a Commissioner.” 

“I don’t think he has made up his mind,” a source close to Moedas told Science|Business. “If it’s to be done, he will have a break in the middle, going back to the private sector.”

Moedas hinted that in the meantime he might like to work with startups, saying, “I would love to back and try to help people, like in the private sector, or in some kind of organisation to help start-ups.” 

It is not unusual for politicians to move between the European Commission and the parliament. Four members of the Barosso Commission resigned their posts to become MEPs: Viviane Reding, Antonio Tajani, Olli Rehn, and Janusz Lewandowski. 

Moves from parliament to the commission are more common. Incumbent commissioners Mariya Gabriel, Corina Crețu, Marianne Thyssen, Miguel Arias Cañete, and Cecilia Malmström are all former MEPs. 

Moedas was nominated to the commission in 2014 by the then prime minister of Portugal, Pedro Passos Coelho. Prior to that he was a member of the Portuguese parliament, representing the Social Democratic Party.