Ursula von der Leyen may well be the first female president of the Commission, but she could be heading a new college of commissioners with very little equality. If the candidates put forward by the Member States are confirmed by the European Parliament in the autumn, this Community executive would have the lowest number of women since 2004 and the Commission headed by the Portuguese José Manuel Barroso, that is, seven female commissioners out of twenty-seven. A far cry from the parity hoped for by Angela Merkel’s former minister.
Friday 30 August was officially the last day for member states to present their candidates for the post of commissioner. By this date, only Italy, Belgium and Bulgaria had not yet officially made their choice, although their orientation is known. Rome will appoint its Minister for European Affairs, Raffaele Fitto, on Friday, as Antonio Tajani, Minister of Foreign Affairs, announced on Thursday. The Belgian government responsible for the current situation should, for its part, reappoint Didier Reynders. Finally, Sofia, without a government, would offer the possibility of choosing between two possible candidates, a man and a woman.
Indeed, it would be the only capital to respond positively to Ursula von der Leyen’s request that each Member State present two personalities to her in order to form a joint college. Only States wishing to reappoint their current Commissioner could deviate from this rule, such as France, which wants to keep Thierry Breton.
Puzzle
However, this rule was largely ignored by capitals, despite repeated reminders from the Commission President. “The European Union treaty states that each country must propose one candidate, not two”“This is what Micheal Martin, the Irish Deputy Prime Minister, said in Brussels on Thursday 29 August, justifying his choice to send the Irish Finance Minister, Michael McGrath, to Brussels.
Most other countries also refused to put forward two names, mostly favouring a male candidate, such as Romania, with MEP Victor Negrescu, and the Greek Kyriakos Mitsotakis, a political ally of Ursula von der Leyen, who nominated Apostolos Tzitzikostas, currently on the European Committee of the Regions, or Austria, which chose its Finance Minister, Magnus Brunner. As for countries that usually send women to Brussels, such as Denmark, the Netherlands, Luxembourg or the Czech Republic, this time they opted for female politicians.
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