The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, called on the Irish Government on Thursday 27 August to put forward as soon as possible candidates - one woman and one man - for the post of European Commissioner to replace Phil Hogan, who resigned the day before (see EUROPE 12546/1).
“In accordance with Article 246 of the Treaty, it is now up to the Irish Government to present suitable candidates for Commissioner of Irish nationality. As in the past, I would invite the Irish government to propose a woman and a man”, Mrs von der Leyen said in a public statement. She met with Taoiseach Micheál Martin on the same day.
Among the names circulating are former senior European official David O’Sullivan, European Parliament Vice-President and EPP group member Mairead McGuinness, Foreign Secretary Simon Coveney and Tánaist Leo Varadkar. The latter said on Thursday that he intends to remain the leader of the Fine Gael party in Ireland, according to the Irish Times newspaper.
Before Mr Hogan’s departure, the Commission consisted of fifteen men and twelve women, including Mrs von der Leyen. The Commission’s Deputy Spokesperson, Dana Spinant, also recalled that the President of the European institution attaches great importance to the objective of “gender equality” within the College of Commissioners.
In 2019, when the College was formed, Mr Varadkar, then Prime Minister, proposed reappointing Mr Hogan for a second term after a first term as Commissioner for Agriculture and Fisheries.
The search for Mr Hogan’s successor will take some time, bearing in mind that any candidate must also undergo a hearing before the competent committee of the European Parliament. But the Commission wants to move as quickly as possible so that a full College can get back to work quickly to tackle issues such as the economic crisis resulting from the Covid-19 pandemic, post-Brexit relations with the United Kingdom, and international trade tensions.
Ideally, for Mrs von der Leyen, this matter should be behind her when she addresses Parliament for her first State of the EU address on Wednesday 16 September in Strasbourg.
In the meantime, the Executive Vice-President of the Commission, Valdis Dombrovskis, who, like Mr Hogan, is a member of the Christian Democratic family, will act in the interim until the Commissioner for Trade is appointed.
And, “at a later stage, I will decide on the final allocation of portfolios in the College of Commissioners”, stressed Mrs von der Leyen. This means that Ireland will not necessarily retain the Trade portfolio. Some countries, such as France, would not be against Mr Dombrovskis keeping the Trade portfolio in place of the financial dossiers.
Exemplarity. The resignation of Mr Hogan for having attended a gala dinner at the Irish Parliament Golf Club despite the health rules in force in Ireland to combat Covid-19 can be seen as an indication of the ‘von der Leyen’ Commission’s determination to behave beyond reproach.
“In the current circumstances, as Europe fights to reduce the spread of the coronavirus, Europeans are making sacrifices and accepting painful restrictions. I expect the members of the College to be particularly vigilant about compliance with applicable national or regional rules or recommendations”, Mrs von der Leyen stressed.
Nevertheless, according to Mrs Spinant, “there is no reason, at this stage, to ask Commissioners where they have spent their holidays” in order to verify whether they complied with the health rules in force at their holiday spot.
In Parliament, the German Manfred Weber expressed the EPP group’s sadness at the departure of Mr Hogan, who has worked tirelessly in the interests of European citizens. On behalf of the S&D group, Iratxe García from Spain asked Ireland to nominate a female candidate. For her German counterpart, Bernd Lange, chairman of Parliament’s Trade Committee, the nationality of the future commissioner “does not matter”. “Don’t let Mr Hogan leave with the free trade treaties in his boxes!“ French MEP Manon Aubry, co-chair of the GUE/NGL group, said ironically.
On Wednesday evening, Mr Hogan explained in a statement the reasons for his resignation and reiterated his apologies to the Irish people for the unease that his conduct in Ireland had caused. “It was becoming increasingly clear that the controversy (...) was becoming a distraction from my work as an EU Commissioner and would undermine my work in the key months ahead”, he acknowledged.
Mrs von der Leyen thanked him warmly for his work at the Commission since 2014.
See Mr Hogan’s statement: https://bit.ly/3joIEd5 (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)