Ursula von der Leyen, the President of the European Commission, has updated Taoiseach Simon Harris regarding the upcoming composition of the next European Commission. The announcement is imminent regarding the allocation of roles to each member state of the European Union.
Ireland’s candidate for the future EU commissioner post, Michael McGrath, is reportedly being considered for the justice portfolio, as per several insiders. Dr. von der Leyen is planning to disclose the roles she intends to distribute to her team of commissioners, chosen by each EU nation, on Tuesday.
The commissioner for justice’s duties include leading the bloc’s initiative to combat the rule of law violations by its member countries, examples in recent times being Hungary and Poland under its former populist government. Didier Reynders, a politician based in Belgium, is currently in possession of this role.
Dr von der Leyen had a telephonic conversation with Mr Harris on Monday evening as part of her ongoing dialogue with national capitals. The German politician updated the Fine Gael leader about the imminent formation of the commissioner team. According to a Government spokesperson, the process of allocating roles is entering its final phases.
The two leaders had conversations several times in the past weeks about the commissioner positions. Mr. Harris expressed satisfaction with the briefing he received and showed appreciation for the President’s thorough work in the formation of the commission.
Dr. von der Leyen is supposed to publicly declare the distinct roles each commissioner will be given on Tuesday. This announcement is set to follow her briefing with the heads of the eight political factions in the European Parliament during a meeting in Strasbourg.
France updated its nomination for the commissioner role on Monday. Thierry Breton, who was slated to serve a second term, has been replaced.
Mr. Breton publicly announced, using social media site X, that Dr. von der Leyen has requested that France retract his nomination, suggesting instead an alternate candidate for a supposedly more powerful role. Over the past half-a-decade, Mr Breton, serving as commissioner for the internal market, regularly found himself at odds with Dr. von der Leyen.
In response, French leader, Emmanuel Macron, put forth the nomination of Stéphane Séjourné, his trusted confidant and the minister for foreign affairs set to depart his post, to become the next commissioner of France.
[Insight: Macron and von der Leyen mutually benefit from the switch in French commissioner]
The government has remained adamant in its intent to pursue a finance-based commission portfolio for Mr McGrath. Yet, there were multiple factors seemingly countering Ireland’s pursuit of a significant economic position. The government disregarded Dr von der Leyen’s recommendation for nations to put forward two nominees, one of which should be female, to aid her in constructing a gender-equal commissioners’ team. Moreover, the four MEPs from fianna fail were among those who voted against the continuation of Dr von der Leyen’s presidency of the EU executive wing for an additional five years during a recent European Parliament ballot.