The departure of the designated French candidate, Thierry Breton, highlights the difficulties encountered by the President of the European Commission in forming her team.
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The formation of the new European Commission continues to cause a stir. The outgoing and designated French Commissioner Thierry Breton finally withdrew on Monday with harsh remarks against the president of the institution Ursula von der Leyen.
With an image of an empty frame, published on X, he accused the German leader of “questionable governance“and to act in favour of another personality. The spokesperson for the European Commission refuses to comment on these allegations.
“The President acknowledges and accepts the resignation of Thierry Breton and thanks him for his work as Commissioner throughout the mandate.“, answers Arianna Podesta.
Stéphane Séjourné, the resigning Minister of Foreign Affairs and former MEP, is now the new french candidate.
With a new candidate and not a female candidate, Ursula von der Leyen still faces difficulties in training a gender-balanced team between men and women. Slovenia has agreed to change its candidate to diplomat Marta Kos, but the parliament in Ljubljana is dragging its feet in giving the green light.
This change has delayed by one week the presentation of the new Commission to the European Parliament, which will hold hearings with all the candidates before deciding on the entire team.
“We are preparing, we are coordinating on the issues, but ultimately, until we have a clearer picture of how the portfolios will be distributed and how the portfolios will take shape, it will be more difficult for us to conclude our work.“, warns MEP Alex Agius Saliba (S&D).
The Commission president is also facing pressure over two far-right candidates. Hungary maintains its confidence in its outgoing commissioner despite the scandals. The other controversial figure is former MEP and current Italian Minister for European Affairs Raffaelle Fitto.
“I think that someone who has consistently voted against the rule of law, against democracy, against the fundamental values of the European Union, every time we have voted on this issue here in the European Parliament over the last five years, does not really present a strong candidacy, particularly for a position of Vice-President of the Commission.“, believes Daniel Freund, MEP (Greens).
The Commission assures that its president, Ursula von der Leyen, intends to present the full list of her team to the European Parliament on Tuesday.
