European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen arrives for the presentation of the new Commission and the allocation of portfolios between the Commissioners-designate, as part of a plenary session at the European Parliament in Strasbourg, eastern France, on Sept 17, 2024. [Photo/Agencies]
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced on Tuesday her new team of commissioners during her second five-year term, just a day after Thierry Breton, France's European commissioner for internal market, abruptly resigned by accusing his boss of "questionable governance".
The new team includes six executive vice-presidents, four women and two men. The previous third layer of vice-presidents has been dropped.
Stephane Sejourne, the 39-year-old outgoing French foreign minister, whom French President Emmanuel Macron announced on Monday as the new candidate to replace Breton, will be the executive vice-president for prosperity and industrial strategy.
The other executive vice-presidents are: Teresa Ribera of Spain for the clean, just and competitive transition; Henna Virkkunen of Finland for tech sovereignty, security and democracy; Roxana Minzatu of Romania for people, skills and preparedness, and Raffaele Fitto of Italy for cohesion and reforms, while Kaja Kallas of Estonia was named the EU high representative for foreign affairs and security policy.
The new commission is not gender-balanced as von der Leyen had wished. Of the 26 nominees, only 11, or 40 percent, are women. But von der Leyen argued that when she received the first set of nominations, only 22 percent were women.
"That was unacceptable. So I worked with the member states and we were able to improve the balance to 40 percent women and 60 percent men. And it shows that, as much as we have achieved, there is still so much more work to do," she told a news conference on Tuesday in Strasbourg during the European Parliament plenary session.
She also announced on Monday night on social media platform X that executive vice-president Margrethe Vestager of Denmark will take over Breton's portfolio during the remaining period of the mandate.
Anger voiced
In an open letter on X on Monday morning, Breton said he was standing down from his role effectively immediately, expressing his anger that von der Leyen has tried to stop him from reappointment in the next European Commission.
Breton, 69, is widely regarded as an influential commissioner with his portfolio covering digital market regulations, critical raw materials, COVID-19 vaccines and boosting the EU's defense and space industries since 2019. Many had thought he would be promoted to be a commission vice-president for the next five years.
"In the very final stretch of negotiations on the composition of the future College (of Commissioners), you asked France to withdraw my name," Breton wrote in a scathing letter to von der Leyen, also posted on X.
Breton said von der Leyen had "offered, as a political trade-off, an allegedly more influential portfolio for France in the future College".
"In light of the latest developments — further testimony to questionable governance — I have to conclude that I can no longer exercise my duties in the College," he wrote.
At the Monday daily news briefings, European Commission deputy chief spokeswoman Arianna Podesta was bombarded with some 40 minutes of questions on the subject, but she would not comment on Breton's accusations.
Breton angered von der Leyen in March by publicly questioning the support for her in the June reelection from her center-right European People's Party.
He was also one of the four commissioners who challenged von der Leyen's "transparency and impartiality" in April over the appointment of Markus Pieper, a political ally, to a well-paid job as European Union's envoy for small and medium-sized enterprises.
The other three — foreign policy chief Josep Borrell and commissioners Nicolas Schmit from Luxembourg and Paolo Gentiloni from Italy, are also not in von der Leyen's team in the second term.
Breton triggered a storm in August when he warned X owner Elon Musk of possible harmful content ahead of his interview with former US president Donald Trump on X. But von der Leyen's commission distanced itself from Breton's message, which was criticized as an assault on freedom of expression.
"It's a good day for free speech," Linda Yaccarino, CEO of X, posted a comment on Monday on Breton's open letter on X.
