On Friday 30 August, Italy and Bulgaria both nominated their candidates for the European Commission, respecting the deadline given to the Member States by the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, and, in the case of Bulgaria, respecting her request to provide two names, one male and one female.
The Bulgarian interim government (the country will go to the polls on 27 October for new parliamentary elections) has nominated former foreign minister Ekaterina Zaharieva (from the EPP-affiliated GERB party) and former energy minister Julian Popov, from the ‘We Continue the Change-Democratic Bulgaria’ party, a member of Renew Europe.
The Italian government, for its part, has confirmed choosing the Minister for European Affairs, Raffaele Fitto.
“This is a delicate and very important choice for us and for Italy in the years to come”, commented Giorgia Meloni in the Council of Ministers, quoted by Ansa. “We have chosen someone with a wealth of experience who has managed the delegations entrusted to him in this government with excellent results”, she added.
Belgium, which has been in current affairs since June, was also expected, at the time of going to press, to put forward one or two names for a Commissioner, possibly including a woman.
If the French-speaking MR (Mouvement Réformateur), a member of Renew Europe) were to be the political family of origin of this candidate for the European Commission, the choice of government team for current affairs would, according to Le Soir, oscillate between Didier Reynders, the current European Commissioner for Justice, and the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Hadja Lahbib.
According to the Belgian newspaper, the name of Sophie Wilmès, MEP and former prime minister, should no longer be in the game.
In any case, this final ‘casting’ will definitely not achieve the parity sought by the President within the College, with only 7 women at present, and potentially 8 or 9, with two possible Bulgarian and Belgian candidates.
Further headaches await Ms von der Leyen, who has already informally begun the hearings of candidates and will present the configuration of the future College of Commissioners to the presidents of the European Parliament’s political groups on 11 September, as reported by Euractiv.
The first of these is the over-representation of candidates interested in a portfolio linked to the economy, industry or competitiveness, sectors targeted in particular by France, the Netherlands, Austria, but also Italy and Spain, according to the Spanish press. Italy may also want to obtain the European ‘Budget’, a post also claimed by Poland.
Another possible complication could relate to a possible request from the S&D group, with a view to the hearings which will begin in the European Parliament at the end of September, to obtain more European Commissioners from the European socialist family, whereas at this stage the PES only has five Commissioners from this family (Slovakia, Romania, Spain, Malta and Denmark), or even four if we take into account the exclusion of the Slovak SMER party, which nominated Maroš Šefčovič in 2009. (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)