On Wednesday 28 August, the French authorities nominated Sylvie Goulard as a candidate for the post of European Commissioner to sit on the forthcoming 'von der Leyen' Commission.
With recognised European experience, the current Deputy Governor of the Banque de France can play a major role within the Commission, according to a source from the Elysée quoted by the French press.
France, whose President was instrumental in appointing Ursula von der Leyen to head the Commission at the European summits responsible for assigning several senior European posts (see EUROPE 12287/1), would be looking to an economic or climate and environmental protection portfolio. The budget portfolio is also mentioned, if the French candidate Olivier Guersent becomes Secretary General on 1 November to replace the German Martin Selmayr.
Mrs Goulard is a former Member of the European Parliament who sat in the Liberal Group from 2009 to 2017. A multilingual European federalist, she was heavily involved in the establishment of the banking union in the euro area after the 2008 financial crisis.
After trying to win the presidency of Parliament in early 2017 (see EUROPE 11676/20), the French Liberal became Minister for the Armed Forces in May of the same year in Edouard Philippe's first government, while MEP Marielle de Sarnez became Minister for European Affairs.
This experience was short-lived, as the two women had to resign due to the ongoing scandal regarding assistants to MEPs of the centrist MoDem party (see EUROPE 11805/27).
The announcement of Mrs Goulard's appointment was approved by many public figures on social networks. Nathalie Loiseau (RE, France) hailed "the choice of an ultra competent European conviction politician". Pascal Canfin (RE, France) praised Mrs Goulard's "intimate knowledge of Europe, and in particular of Germany". For Sven Giegold (Greens/EFA, Germany), France's candidate for Commissioner is "a bridge builder" for "a Europe capable of both action and solidarity".
Amongst French ecologists, it is a different story. Yannick Jadot expressed "major embarrassment". "How is it possible to appoint a person who is still the subject of a judicial inquiry for the same actions that are alleged against the Rassemblement National, namely the misappropriation of parliamentary budgets to the benefit of her former party, the MoDem? It should also not be forgotten that she was paid €10,000 per month for over 2 years by an American think tank even though she was an MEP", said Michèle Rivasi and David Cormand, who co-chair the French delegation of the Greens/EFA group.
Mrs Goulard participated in the work of the Council for the Future of Europe. Chaired by former Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti, this think tank set up by the Berggruen Institute is responsible for working on ways to achieve a unified Europe. Members include former heads of state (Britain's Tony Blair, Germany's Gerhard Schröder) and economists (Joseph Stiglitz, Jean Pisani-Ferry).
In addition, the French Socialist delegation criticised Mrs Goulard's role in reforming the Stability and Growth Pact to tighten European budgetary rules after the financial crisis. Romano Prodi's former adviser is "the champion of the six-pack", a set of five regulations and a directive that came into force at the end of 2011, they said in a statement. And they added: "This 'six-pack' - which we fought against - is partly responsible for the economic situation in which we find ourselves, because it imposes ever more austerity".
As for Gilles Lebreton (ID, France), he castigated Mrs Goulard as "an arrogant federalist (...) from whom we may not expect anything good".
The appointment of Mrs Goulard brings to thirteen the number of women who could sit on the future Commission, while Mrs von der Leyen has begun her consultations with the Commissioners-designate (see EUROPE 12313/12).
Italy is the last Member State that still has to appoint a political figure to fill this position. (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)