Abrupt farewell from the Commissioner for the Internal Market, Thierry Breton. The current French representative to the European Commission, whom Emmanuel Macron had re-proposed, has presented his resignation with immediate effect in a letter sent to the President, Ursula von der Leyen, in which he reveals that the German has asked the President to appoint a woman in exchange for a more important portfolio in the new Community government.
In the letter, Breton recalls that Macron had unofficially announced at the EU leaders’ summit in June that he would remain commissioner for another term. This was later France’s official nomination, but in subsequent negotiations, Von der Leyen asked the French president for a change.
“You asked France to withdraw my name – for personal reasons that you have never discussed directly with me – and proposed, as a political counterpart, a more influential portfolio to France in the future College of Commissioners,” Breton says with some resentment in this letter in which he also announces that Macron will propose a new name to Von der Leyen and communicates his immediate resignation. Macron has gone it alone on several occasions and his relationship with Von der Leyen is not particularly smooth. He was one of the commissioners, along with Josep Borrell, who He criticized him for hiring a CDU leader for an interesting position. as special envoy for SMEs.
The resignation of Macron, who was in charge of competences such as the new EU digital legislation or the promotion of the military industry, comes the day before Von der Leyen announced the composition of the new college of commissioners in which he had worked since the end of August, a date she gave to the leaders of the 27 – with the exception of Germany, which she represents – to send her their proposals.
Von der Leyen asked for two names to be proposed, one man and one woman, in order to achieve parity within the College of Commissioners. She demanded this from all governments, except those that wanted a member of the current Community government to repeat themselves, as is the case with Breton.
Germany faced a refusal from all governments except Bulgaria to accept its request to make two proposals. Only seven member states initially proposed women’s names, including Spain and Vice-President Teresa Ribera. Through the negotiations that followed, it obtained some changes that brought it closer to parity. “If you don’t ask for it, you don’t get it,” the German said recently.
