“market committee member” was replaced by “vice chairman”, is france losing out?
2024-09-19
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[global times correspondent in france shang kaiyuan yuwen] european commission president ursula von der leyen announced the list of nominees for the new european commission on the 17th. french foreign minister sergey séjourne was nominated as the executive vice president of the european commission responsible for industrial strategy and other matters. the day before, the european commission's commissioner for internal market, frenchman breton, announced his resignation and accused von der leyen of coercing and bribing the french side to "change people." there are many opinions in france about this "deal."
"france mourns its loss of influence in the new european commission," the european edition of the u.s. politico reported on the 17th, saying that five french officials lamented that the new personnel appointments fully demonstrated that france's influence in the european union has declined and french president macron's influence on the european stage is no longer what it used to be. an unnamed french official said: "the real problem is that we failed to secure a commitment to an important position."
the report said that although séjourne's nomination as the executive vice president of the european commission was a small victory in terms of title, the "resources" he directly controlled were not as good as breton's. breton directly controlled three directorates-general while séjourne only directly controlled one. a french official said that séjourne's role was more like a chief coordinator rather than an important figure in the european commission.
france's le figaro said that séjourne's responsibilities are broad and important, especially in promoting europe's industrial base and global competitiveness. however, he does not have control over the defense or digital fields, and he needs to work with the portuguese commissioner, and the latvian commissioner oversees the public finances of member states. although in theory séjourne's responsibilities are broader than breton's, he is in charge of fewer directorates-general than breton. the report said that macron's supporters and the elysee palace have been praising séjourne's future position in the european commission. "don't let people say that france has failed to get a position that matches its position in europe and macron's ambitions for the european union. don't let people think that paris is losing influence and berlin is dominant in the european commission led by von der leyen."
according to the french newspaper l'echo, an insider familiar with the political circles was worried that "france will face a doubly weakened situation as a result" and that "von der leyen rejected the french nominee (breton), but the president replaced him with a weak figure. this is unprecedented."
politico said that part of the reason for this result was that macron's position was weakened after he was defeated by the far right in the european parliament elections in june. but some people disagree, and a french diplomat claimed victory. "some say we lost, i say we won," he said. "yes, we have one less directorate general, but we have the status of executive vice president. we have gathered the tools to enhance competitiveness in one place."
