Thierry Breton resigned from his post, calling Ursula von der Leyen’s leadership “questionable.” The commissioner says the Commission president did so “for personal reasons.”
European Internal Market Commissioner Thierry Breton resigned from his post on Monday after European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen reportedly asked France to propose another candidate for the new term, criticising his “questionable leadership”.
In a letter sent this Monday to Ursula von der Leyen and published on the social network, in the final stretch of the negotiations”, the official asked the country to “withdraw the [seu] name”.
I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my colleagues at the Faculty, the Commission services, MEPs, Member States and my team.
Together, we have worked tirelessly to advance an ambitious EU agenda.
It has been an honour and a privilege to serve the common European interest????????? pic.twitter.com/wQ4eeHUnYu
— Thierry Breton (@ThierryBreton) September 16, 2024
According to Breton, Von der Leyen did so “for personal reasons that she never mentioned directly” with him, offering “as political compensation a supposedly more influential portfolio for France in the future university.”
For this reason, “a different candidate will now be proposed,” the official told the former ‘boss’, announcing that he can no longer carry out his duties as European Commissioner for the Internal Market and is resigning “with immediate effect.”
“Over the past five years, I have worked tirelessly to defend and promote the European common good, above national and partisan interests, and it has been an honour”says Thierry Breton, criticising Ursula von der Leyen’s “questionable leadership”.
In response to this statement, Thierry Breton published a somewhat ironic post about his “new” portrait in the European Commission.
????Breaking news:
My official portrait for the next term of the European Commission ⤵️ pic.twitter.com/BolWcdYiPU
— Thierry Breton (@ThierryBreton) September 16, 2024
This change of French candidate for the future college of commissioners could affect the presentation of the German leader’s team for a second term at the head of the European Commission, scheduled for Tuesday, after a one-week postponement caused by the change by Slovenia, from one candidate to another, in order to achieve the desired parity.
European sources consulted by Lusa indicated that, precisely this morning, a meeting of ambassadors of the Member States to the European Union (EU) was scheduled to finalize the list of proposals for Von der Leyen’s new team.
After starting interviews with EU member states for European commissioners at the end of August, Ursula von der Leyen was due to present her proposal for a team and portfolio allocation last week, but the announcement was delayed and scheduled for Tuesday in the French city of Strasbourg, on the sidelines of the European Parliament plenary session.
The president of the European Commission, who has been at the helm of the institution since 2019 and will now begin a second term until 2029, stipulated parity as one of the objectives of her college of commissioners, but initially most countries went ahead with male names for the candidates, which, according to European sources, generated pressure on countries – such as Slovenia and Romania –, which backed down on the proposals and went ahead with female names.
Portugal nominated former Finance Minister Maria Luis Albuquerque.
So far, 11 of the 28 names proposed for European Commissioners in the next institutional cycle were women (Bulgaria submitted two names, one man and one woman, as requested by Von der Leyen). The new French proposal is expected.
Public hearings on the proposed names of the new European Commissioners are due to take place in the European Parliament in October, with the European Assembly giving final approval in plenary session before the new European Commission can take office, which is expected to happen in November or December.
Source: Observadora
