the list of nominees for the new european commission is announced, and behind it is macron, who has been weakened in both france and the eu
2024-09-19
한어Русский языкEnglishFrançaisIndonesianSanskrit日本語DeutschPortuguêsΕλληνικάespañolItalianoSuomalainenLatina
according to a report by xinhua news agency on september 17, european commission (ec) president von der leyen announced the list of nominations for the new european commission members on the same day. all nominations still need to be reviewed and approved by the european parliament.
before von der leyen announced the nomination list, on september 16, the european commission's commissioner for internal market, frenchman breton, announced his resignation, saying that von der leyen had requested to withdraw her candidacy "for personal reasons" and accused von der leyen of "governance problems."
on the issue of breton's resignation, french president macron had to give in to von der leyen, gave up the relevant nomination, and announced that outgoing foreign minister sergei sejourne would take up a position in the new european commission.
some analysts believe that a series of events indicate that macron's position in france and the european union is being weakened.
von der leyen: the new european commission's priorities are "security and competitiveness"
the new european commission will have to address security, competitiveness and growing challenges in the region over the next five years.
according to reuters on september 17, von der leyen said that climate change remains a major background for the eu to formulate policies. compared with the first term from 2019 to 2024, von der leyen said that security and competitiveness will also become the priorities of the new european commission.
france 24 tv believes that as the russia-ukraine conflict enters its third year, security and defense have assumed a new importance in the eu. former lithuanian prime minister kubilius has been nominated as the first european commissioner for defense affairs, and former estonian prime minister kallas will serve as executive vice president in charge of foreign affairs.
the british broadcasting corporation (bbc) reported on september 17 that the list of new european commission members was announced after weeks of discussion, and candidates from all political factions were awarded positions.
for example, spanish socialist rivera will lead the green transition, and fitto, a member of the italian far-right party brothers, will serve as vice president of the european commission and commissioner for cohesion and reform.
according to eu regulations, each member state should nominate a candidate for the european commission, and the candidate must be approved by the european parliament. france 24 tv said that at present, it is expected that the formation of the next european commission leadership team may be postponed until after the originally scheduled early november.
the bbc said that although the scope of duties of european commission members should be independent of their own country, this is often not the case and member states will compete for their candidates for important positions.
reuters said that the two largest countries in the eu, germany and france, have been awarded key positions. von der leyen is german, and outgoing french foreign minister françois séjourne will be in charge of the eu's industrial strategy.
macron's nominated eu commissioner suddenly resigns
france did not initially nominate séjournet for the eu commissioner position, but instead nominated breton, the european commissioner for the internal market, who has served in the european commission since 2019.
according to reuters, breton suddenly resigned on september 16 and made "tough remarks" against von der leyen.
agence france-presse reported on september 17 that breton published a letter to von der leyen on his personal social platform "x" (formerly twitter) on the 16th, saying that in the final stage of negotiations on the composition of the new european commission, von der leyen asked france to withdraw her name.
in his resignation letter, breton argued that von der leyen blocked his candidacy "for personal reasons" and said that in political exchange, von der leyen promised france a more influential position in the european commission.
"the latest developments demonstrate your (von der leyen) problematic governance and i have to conclude that i can no longer carry out my duties in the european commission," breton added.
afp further stated that breton had clashed with von der leyen many times during her first term and his dislike for her was "no secret."
reuters reported that sources close to macron said that until last week, it was still believed that breton would be appointed. macron publicly confirmed breton's nomination in june this year and also supported von der leyen's re-election in the european parliament elections in june this year in exchange for france being able to obtain an important position in the european commission.
diplomatic sources told reuters that it was not until von der leyen returned to brussels on august 19 after her summer break that she told macron she would not give france the important commission post it wanted unless breton was given up.
reuters believes that the concession on the breton issue marks a loss of macron's influence. macron played an important role in 2019 when von der leyen first became president of the european commission and shaped the eu agenda at the time.
people close to macron say he has complete trust in breton but his first priority is getting france a key commission post, with commissionership coming second.
politico, an american political news website, analyzed that some french officials believe that breton has become von der leyen's main critic within the eu, and to some extent, macron may feel that he must give in.
a source familiar with breton's departure said: "von der leyen is convinced that macron is in great difficulty."
politico believes that the accumulation of many events in recent days shows that macron's position has been weakened both in france and at the european level.
in the european parliament elections in june this year, the far-right national rally won 31.7% of the votes, ranking first among french political parties; the ruling ennahda party won 14.9% of the votes, ranking second.
macron dissolved the french national assembly and held parliamentary elections. according to cctv news, the results showed that the left-wing alliance "new popular front" won 182 seats in the national assembly, making it the party alliance with the most seats in the french parliament.
source: the paper
