On Thursday 27 June, the Irish Taoiseach Simon Harris indicated that his government would propose only one name for a European Commissioner to the future President of the Commission, in this case the current Minister for Finance, Michael McGrath.
As in 2019, the President of the Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, intends to ask the Member States to put forward two names, one man and one woman, in the interests of parity.
“I’m aware that President may seek the name of a man and a woman. Ireland has done that in the past”, he said on arriving in Brussels.
But the Treaties “are very clear that it’s a matter for a Member State to decide who each wishes to nominate, and it’s perfectly within the president’s rights to indicate her views and preferences”, added the Taoiseach.
“But our government has made a decision. We have decided to send one of our most senior politicians, one of our most senior ministers. The Finance minister and we won’t be deviating from that”.
He “is obviously well placed to play an important economic role”, he also commented. (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)