The Commissioner for the Internal Market and until this Monday France’s candidate for re-election to the new Community Executive, Thierry Breton has announced his resignationn “immediately” and accused the president of the European Commission, the German conservative Ursula von der Leyen, of putting pressure on France behind his back to force the change of candidate in exchange for a more important portfolio for this country.
“In light of these recent events, further evidence of questionable governance, “I must conclude that I cannot continue to exercise my functions at the College,” Breton laments in his resignation letter addressed to Von der Leyen and which he himself shared on social networks. In a message a few minutes earlier, the politician and businessman published a message. blank canvas under the sentence: “Scoop: My official portrait for the next mandate of the European Commission”.
Breton’s announcement arrives barely 24 hours before the meeting scheduled for this Tuesday in Strasbourg (France) between Von der Leyen and the Conference of Presidents (CoP) of the European Parliament during which the German was to announce her proposal for a new college of commissioners.
“You asked France to remove my name, for personal reasons which he never discussed with meand would have offered a more significant change of portfolio for France,” Breton said in the letter to Von der Leyen. The current Commissioner for the Internal Market, 69, assured that over the past “five years, he has fought tirelessly to defend and promote the European common good, above national and partisan interests.
“It has been an honour. However, in light of recent events – another testament to questionable governance – I must conclude that I can no longer carry out my duties”, added the Frenchman. In the current Community Executive, Breton has dealt with areas such as digitalization, industry, defense or space.
Von der Leyen and Macron do not speak
Breton’s departure could, however, change the agenda and force a new delay although for the moment neither von der Leyen nor French President Emmanuel Macron have reacted to Breton’s departure. In his letter, Breton informs Von der Leyen that the French government will propose “another candidate” and reveals that in recent days the head of the Executive asked Macron to remove Breton’s name in exchange for a “more influential” portfolio.
Breton also criticizes Von der Leyen for taking this decision “for personal reasons” which she “at no time” addressed directly to himwho was the official candidate of Paris. In this sense, the liberal politician recalls that when last July Von der Leyen asked the Member States to present her with a male candidate and a female candidate to have enough options to compose a common College, he also specified that the governments that chose to renew their mandate as Commissioner would not be subject to this criterion.
This is the case of Breton, who during this mandate was in charge of the portfolio of the Internal Market and Telecommunications, from where has been involved in several controversies with a platforms like X (formerly Twitter) and also revealed its disagreements with Von der Leyen.
Already during the campaign for the European elections last June, Breton had taken advantage of his institutional story on X to cast doubt on the EPP’s support for Von der Leyen.Despite her qualities, Ursula von der Leyen is a minority in her own party“, writes the French liberal, before asking “if it is possible to still trust the EPP in the management of Europe for another five years”.
Breton was also one of the four commissioners who, last April, denounced the lack of transparency with which a German MEP from the same party as the head of the EU executive, Markus Pieper (CDU), was promoted to a senior position within the Commission as envoy for SMEs; although the controversy ultimately suspended the meeting.
