A Just a few days before the deadline for European Union (EU) Member States to present their candidates – ideally two (one man and one woman) – for the post of European Commissioner in the next term (2024-2029), five countries out of the 27 have not yet announced their choices or communicated them to Brussels: Portugal, Belgium, Bulgaria, Italy and Denmark.
Still, according to European sources heard by Lusa, the intention of the leader of the community executive who was reappointed to the position, Ursula von der Leyen, is to present her team in mid-September, having already begun interviews with some of the proposed names.
Although the official deadline is August 30, next Friday, proposals for names will still be accepted by Von der Leyen until the beginning of September, according to the same sources.
It is expected that, between September and October, public hearings will be held in the European Parliament on the names proposed for new European Commissioners, with the European Assembly being responsible for giving the final approval in plenary so that, later, the new European Commission can take office.
If all the proposed names had the immediate ‘green light’ from the European Parliament, the new college of commissioners could take office as early as November 1st, but with a rejection this deadline would be extended to December 1st, given the time needed for the country in question to propose a new name and for this candidate to be interviewed by Ursula von der Leyen and heard in a hearing at the European assembly.
European sources heard by Lusa therefore expect the inauguration to take place by the end of this year.
As regards its executive team, the President of the European Commission is responsible for choosing and assigning the different portfolios, taking into account the geographical size of the country, the skills of the candidates and their preferences, following nominations made by the countries.
The request for countries to put forward names was made in letters sent at the end of July by the President of the European Commission to EU heads of government and state, in which she advocated a “gender-balanced college of commissioners”.
Ursula von der Leyen was re-elected last July as President of the European Commission for another five years.
The centre-right German politician has been president of the Commission since December 2019, the first woman in the role, and was the European People’s Party’s top candidate in June’s European elections.
When she was re-elected by the European Parliament, the official indicated that she would now focus on forming her team of commissioners, starting interviews in mid-August “to choose the best-prepared candidates who share the European commitment”.
“Once again, my aim will be to achieve an equal share of men and women in the commission,” he said at the time.
Read Also: Costa in the EU does not imply a ‘minor’ portfolio for Portugal in the next commission
Download our free App.
Eighth consecutive year Consumer Choice for Online Press and elected product of the year 2024.
* Study by Netsonda, Nov. and Dec. 2023 productoftheyear- pt.com
Source: https://www.noticiasaominuto.com/mundo/2622357/nova-comissao-europeia-devera-ser-anunciada-em-setembro
