The President of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker, has indicated that he will present "in due course" a legislative proposal enabling the Council of the EU to decide, unanimously, not to replace, until the end of the Commission's mandate, the Commissioners who decide to take up their seat in the European Parliament from 2 July, in a letter sent on Monday 17 June to the Romanian Prime Minister, Viorica Dăncilă.
As I mentioned to the Heads of State or Government on 28 May, I consider that "use should be made of the possibility provided for in the second paragraph of Article 246 of TFEU", "meaning that resigning Commissioners will not be replaced", writes Mr Juncker. He stressed that such a decision would not affect the right of Member States to have a European Commissioner in the next Commission.
Among the five Commissioners concerned (see EUROPE 12267/2), the Estonian liberal Andrus Ansip (Digital Single Market) and the Romanian social democrat Corina Creţu (Regional Policy) have informed the President of the Commission of their intention to take up their seat in the European Parliament; Mr Ansip said he would like to sit on the Committee on the Internal Market (IMCO) or Industry (ITRE). Dutch socialist Frans Timmermans, a candidate for the presidency of the Commission, "is still reflecting", according to Mr Juncker, with reference to the ongoing negotiations on appointments to senior European positions to be filled by the end of 2019.
Bulgarian Christian Democrat Mariya Gabriel (Digital Economy) and Latvian Christian Democrat Valdis Dombrovskis (Financial Services) have informed the President of the Commission of their intention to complete their mandate in the Juncker Commission.
But in Mr Dombrovskis' entourage, it was reported on Tuesday, June 18, that his decision was not yet final.
Estonia has already indicated that it wishes to replace Mr Ansip by the end of the ‘Juncker’ Commission mandate and Romania has not yet taken a formal decision.
See the letter from Mr Juncker: http://bit.ly/2x2HHBi (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)