European Union|According to Thierry Breton, Ursula von der Leyen had asked Emmanuel Macron to propose another person as the new French commissioner.
Brussels
French commissioner-designate and current EU internal market commissioner Thierry Breton unexpectedly resigns from his position. Breton announced his decision on Monday on the messaging service X.
President Emmanuel Macron nominated Breton as commissioner candidate in the summer. According to Breton, the president of the commission Ursula von der Leyen however, had in recent days pressured Macron to change the commissioner candidate. Von der Leyen is currently preparing the portfolio division of the new Commission.
“A few days ago, in the final meters of the negotiations on the composition of the new college, you asked France to withdraw my name – for personal reasons that you have never mentioned to me – and offered a heavier portfolio to France as a political exchange,” Breton writes in his public resignation letter to von der Leyen.
According to Breton, Macron plans to change the candidate.
Change comes at the very last minute, as von der Leyen was expected to announce the composition of the new commission on Tuesday in Strasbourg during a plenary session of the European Parliament. It is unclear whether the change will affect von der Leyen’s plans.
According to Breton, von der Leyen’s actions are “another indication of questionable governance”, which is why he will also leave his position as commissioner immediately.
It is not known why von der Leyen asked Macron to change the commissioner candidate. Breton is one of the most influential commissioners in the current commission and one of the few who publicly dared to criticize von der Leyen.
Von der Leyen has also pressured member states to send more female commissioner candidates and promised them heavier portfolios. France has not had a female commissioner in the entire 2000s.
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