The Member States' ambassadors to the European Union (Coreper) did not adopt, on Wednesday 3 July, the Commission's proposal to not replace two Commissioners - Romanian Corina Creţu and Estonian Andrus Ansip, who now sit in the European Parliament (see EUROPE 12287/4) - until the end of the Juncker Commission's mandate.
The Estonian and Romanian ambassadors have expressed their opposition to the legislative proposal, which requires unanimity from the Member States. It will be on the agenda of the Employment and Social Affairs Council on Monday 8 July, but is unlikely to be debated.
The Romanian Ioan Mircea Pașcu is expected to replace Ms Creţu and the Estonian Kadri Simson will take over from Mr Ansip. If their respective countries of origin confirm their appointment, they will have to be interviewed by the competent parliamentary committee, a priori alongside the second plenary session of the European Parliament in mid-July in Strasbourg.
Those potentially affected, Commissioners Frans Timmermans, Valdis Dombrovskis and Mariya Gabriel have decided to end their mandate in the Juncker Commission.
On Wednesday, the President of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker, decided to temporarily transfer Mr Ansip's Digital Internal Market portfolio to the current Commissioner for Energy Union, Maroš Šefčovič, and Ms Creţu's Regional Policy portfolio to the Commissioner for Enlargement Negotiations, Johannes Hahn, who held this position in the previous Commission. He informed the Finnish Presidency of the Council of the EU of the temporary working arrangements resulting from this transfer. (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)