European Commission, here are the names of the new candidates
The new European Commission is complete. At least according to the nominations of the member states. The latest name to arrive is that of the Foreign Minister, Hadja Lahbib, indicated by Belgium. Also at the urging of President Ursula von der Leyen who risked having a college that was too male.
Joining Belgium are Romania and Bulgaria, among the latest to come forward, with female names: respectively that of MEP Roxana Minzatu and that of MP Ekaterina Zaharieva, former Foreign Minister.
The composition is therefore seventeen men and ten women.. Seven outgoing commissioners were reconfirmed, including von der Leyen who, according to the previews, is expected to present its new team on September 11. She is currently engaged in discussions with the designated people, also to evaluate the various portfolios to be assigned. Then the commissioners will have to pass the examination of the parliamentary hearings where a two-thirds majority is required to avoid going to the vote (which is a simple majority).
In the last round, three names were rejected: Sylvie Goulard (France), Rovana Plumb (Romania) and László Trócsányi (Hungary). Italy chose Raffaele Fitto. The designation of the Minister for European Affairs and the PNRR had been discussed for days, but the official announcement came in the last Council of Ministers. Among the last to come forward were Portugal – which proposed the former Minister of Finance Maria Luís Albuquerque – and Denmark with the Minister of Cooperation, Dan Jorgensen. Spain instead made official the nomination of the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Ecological Transition, Teresa Ribera, already known.
Days ago, von der Leyen has launched a series of consultations with Member States – especially the smaller ones – to urge them to review their nominations to include a few more female names. In particular, Maltese media reported, attention was focused on Valletta where Prime Minister Robert Abela proposed his chief of staff, Glenn Micallef. Von der Leyen would have preferred a woman, perhaps with a reappointment of the outgoing Commissioner, Helena Dalli, who was in charge of Equality.
The first seven women appointed to the College are: German President Ursula von der Leyen; Estonian Kaja Kallas (future EU High Representative for Foreign Policy and Vice-President of the Commission); outgoing Vice-President Dubravka Suica (Croatia); Swedish Minister for European Affairs Jessika Roswall; Finnish MEP Henna Virkkunen and the aforementioned Ribera (Spain) and Albuquerque (Portugal).
The seventeen commissioners appointed are Valdis Dombrovskis (former Commission Vice-President for Economy, Latvia); Thierry Breton (outgoing Commissioner for Internal Market and Industry, France); Wopke Hoekstra (outgoing Commissioner for Climate, former Finance Minister, Netherlands), Oliver Varhelyi (outgoing Commissioner for Enlargement, Hungary); Maros Sefcovic (former Vice-President for Green Deal, Slovakia); Christophe Hansen (MEP, Luxembourg); Victor Negrescu (Vice-President of the European Parliament, Romania); Magnus Brunner (Finance Minister, Austria); Jozef Sikela (Minister for Industry and Trade, Czech Republic); Apostolos Tzitzikostas (Governor of Central Macedonia, Greece); Michael McGrath (former Finance Minister, Ireland); Glenn Micallef (Head of the Prime Minister’s Secretariat, Malta); Piotr Serafin (Ambassador to the EU, Poland); Tomaz Vesel (former President of the Court of Auditors, Slovenia); Costas Kadis (former Minister of Health, Cyprus) and Andrius Kubilius (MEP, Lithuania).
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