2 weeks to the day after the European Parliament rejected Commissioner Candidate Sylvie Goulard, the Elysée presented a new candidate for the post of Internal Market Commissioner on Thursday 24 October: the head of enterprise and former Minister of the Economy, Finance and Industry during the Chirac era, Thierry Breton. But there is already grumbling rising on the side of the European Parliament.
Speculation had been on the rise since 10 October about potential candidates, such as the current chief negotiator for Brexit, Michel Barnier, or the economic advisor in the cabinet of the President of the French Republic, Laurence Boone. Ultimately, it will be the candidacy of Thierry Breton, strongly anticipated since Wednesday (see EUROPE 12355/17), that has been selected.
But several MEPs are already baring their teeth. “It's going to be difficult again”, said Yannick Jadot (Greens/EFA, France). “With Thierry Breton, there are new issues of conflict of interest”, he recalled on French radio RMC, explaining that the new Commissioner Candidate is a shareholder of a company that receives European subsidies, which could lead to his portfolio being reduced, he said. “And CEO of Atos, which receives European funds... It seems that we still have work to do in terms of preventing conflicts of interest!”, warned French Manon Aubry, co-president of the GUE/NGL, on her Twitter account.
Mr Breton is not without suspicion, according to the national press. He is currently CEO of Atos, a major French digital services company which has been receiving European subsidies for the past 10 years and which is also involved in espionage activities via a subsidiary, according to the specialised media Euractiv.
In addition, the man has a controversial past because of his role in France Telecom’s recovery in the 2000s. He was reportedly implicated and subject to searches in the Rhodia affair, a political-financial scandal dating back to the late 1990s, concerning the separation of the chemical and pharmaceutical branches of the former Rhône-Poulenc company. At the time, Thierry Breton was a director at Rhodia. (Original version in French by Pascal Hansens)