The French candidate for Internal Market Commissioner, Thierry Breton, in his written replies sent to Parliament on Tuesday 12 November once again stated all the "radical steps" he had taken to avoid any conflict of interest during his mandate. However, his answers do not seem to convince part of the European Parliament, particularly on the left wing.
In his replies, Thierry Breton states that he has sold all his shares and resigned from all the positions he held in companies and associations (see EUROPE 12366/17). "Today I have no shares or roles of any kind", he insisted vigorously in his answers, insisting on his exemplary conduct when he was Minister of the Economy under Jacques Chirac. And he gave assurances that he would scrupulously comply with the Code of Conduct for Commissioners and, in particular, Article 4 thereof, which is dedicated to the procedures in the event of a conflict of interest (here: http://bit.ly/2CEXc5l ).
However, his answers do not seem to have convinced the left wing of the European Parliament, as they provide little or no additional data compared to what was contained in his declaration of interests. On Tuesday 12 November, when potential conflicts of interest were discussed in the Legal Affairs Committee (JURI), the S&D, Greens/EFA, GUE/NGL and ID did not succeed in asking him additional written questions (see EUROPE 12367/1).
One of the main questions concerns the specific cases where Mr Breton intends to divest himself of a file because of a potential conflict of interest. In his response, the Frenchman states that he will recuse himself "automatically from any financial, contractual or similar management decision which would directly concern Atos or one of its entities", where the Code of Conduct states, in Articles 2 and 4, that there is a conflict of interest "when a personal interest may influence the independent exercise of their functions". Mr Breton's approach is easily explained, according to one source: "a strict interpretation would imply the systematic divestment of almost all his files".
On the main issues, Mr Breton, by giving more space to the industrial question, by better linking the challenges of space policy with those of defence, seems more convincing than the first candidate, we have also heard from beyond the European Parliament.
What about the Social Democrats?
At the hearing on Thursday 14 November, Mr Breton will need to obtain at least a two-thirds majority in the Industry, Research and Energy (ITRE) and Internal Market and Consumer Protection (IMCO) committees, which some may not consider to be the case. The GUE/NGL, the Greens/EFA, ID seem very reluctant to accept his candidacy. The focus is logically on S&D.
On Wednesday 13 November, on its Twitter account, the group welcomed the concessions obtained from the President-elect of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, on the titles of the portfolios.
So, the highly controversial portfolio "Protection of the European way of life" would become "Promotion of the European way of life". Similarly, the portfolio of the future Commissioner for Employment was to include "social rights" and, finally, fisheries was added to the portfolio dedicated to the environment and oceans.
For some, these gains could facilitate Social Democrats' support for Thierry Breton's candidacy, which could then obtain a two-thirds majority (set at 73 votes), since strong support from the S&D, the EPP, Renew Europe and the ECR would represent 80 MEPs. (Original version in French by Pascal Hansens)