EU Commission chief unveils designated commissioners for next 5 years

ANKARA

The president of the European Commission on Tuesday revealed the proposal for new commissioners.

Ursula von der Leyen, at a news conference, unveiled suggestions for the new composition and structure of the commission after weeks of looking to find gender balance.

Each proposed commissioner must be approved by the EU Parliament following a questioning before parliamentary committees, a process that could stretch until late October, according to estimations.

Von der Leyen announced that the new commission will have four women and two men among executive vice presidents.

Amid debates about her insisting on gender equality, the commission chief said that when she received the first nominations, there was a "share of 22% women and 78% men."

"So you can imagine that this was completely unacceptable. So I worked intensively with the member states, and we were able to improve the share to 40% women and 60% men. And it shows that as much as we have achieved, there is still so much more work to do," she explained.

Outgoing French Foreign Minister Stephane Sejourne, who was nominated as a candidate by France on Monday following Commissioner Thierry Breton’s sudden resignation, was proposed as executive vice president for prosperity and industrial strategy. Sejourne was also proposed to handle the Industry, SMEs, and the Single Market portfolio.

Breton, France’s European commissioner for the internal market, accused von der Leyen of undermining him by asking France to withdraw his name "for personal reasons."

He said von der Leyen had "offered, as a political trade-off, an allegedly more influential portfolio for France in the future College.”

Asked about her alleged intervention in the withdrawal of Breton’s candidacy, Ursula von der Leyen dodged the question, praised Sejourne, and said: "So the French president has made the decision, you know, after having consulted the new French Prime Minister Michel Barnier, he has proposed Stephane Sejourne as France’s new candidate."

Former Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas was designated High representative for Foreign and Security policy, Spain’s Teresa Ribera was nominated to work on Clean, Just, and Competitive transition, while Finnish Henna Virkkunen was selected to handle Tech Sovereignty, Security, and Democracy. Romania’s Roxana Minzatu will be responsible for People, Skills, and Preparedness. Raffaele Fitto from Italy, for his part, was nominated to handle Cohesion and Reforms.

Commissioners

Marta Kos, who is awaiting approval from the Slovenian parliament for her appointment, was designated the commissioner responsible for Enlargement.

Belgian Foreign Minister Hadja Lahbib is a nominee for the Preparedness and Crisis Management portfolio, as well as Equality.

Poland’s Piotr Serafin will be responsible for the Budget, while Austria’s Magnus Brunnes will have the Internal affairs and Migration portfolio.

Lithuania’s Andrius Kubilius was nominated for commissioner for Defense and Space.

According to von der Leyen’s plans, Denmark’s Dan Jorgensen will handle Energy and Housing.