The Brief – Von der Leyen can be persuasive, sometimes

Pursuing her goal for gender balance on the EU high table, European Commission President  Ursula von der Leyen has been able to make smaller member states change their mind, as three of them withdrew their male candidate, however, gender balance is unlikely to be achieved.

Romania’s Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu had proposed a male candidate, Victor Negrescu, a vice president of the European Parliament and a heavyweight in the S&D camp, despite his young age.

But ten days later, Ciolacu announced that another member of the European Parliament (MEP), little-known Roxana Mînzatu, was the new Romanian nominee for an apparently “relevant” portfolio, “even if her political experience is limited”.

Slovenia too withdrew its male candidate, Tomaž Vesel, a former president of his country’s Court of Audit, reportedly amid pressure from von der Leyen, and announced on Monday (9 September) that Marta Kos, a former diplomat and presidential candidate, is the new pick.

Bulgaria was the only EU country to comply with von der Leyen’s request that member states put forward one male and one female nomination. These were Ekaterina Zaharieva, former justice and former foreign minister, and Julian Popov, a former environment minister and a fellow of the European Climate foundation.

Having met consecutively with Zaharieva and Popov in the Berlaymont on 3 September, on 5 September, von der Leyen sent a letter to the Bulgarian caretaker prime minister Dimitar Glavchev, reportedly thanking him for the two candidacies and asking Bulgaria to nominate Zaharieva as the sole Bulgarian candidate. Glavchev responded positively to the request.

This is the second time that Bulgaria has proposed two candidates. After Bulgaria’s Commissioner Mariya Gabriel left the EU executive to join Bulgarian politics last May, Sofia proposed, as requested, a male and a female candidate. Von der Leyen picked the woman from the centre right EPP, Iliana Ivanova, and left behind the male candidate, Daniel Laurer.

Reportedly, Malta is still under pressure from von der Leyen to extend the mandate of its current EU commissioner, Helena Dalli, and to withdraw its nominee Glenn Micallef, head of secretariat to Prime Minister Robert Abela. If Abela does not change his mind, it is anticipated that Micallef will get an insignificant portfolio, likely equality once again.

If von der Leyen is so persuasive vis-a-vis smaller countries, maybe she should also be bolder when it comes to larger, richer and older member states.

Would the Commission president call Macron and tell him to withdraw the candidacy of Thierry Breton or ask the Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof to find a female replacement for Wopke Hoekstra? In any case, there is no indication that she attempted this.

Having said this, Belgium is a founding member of the EU and the host country to the EU institutions, but von der Leyen succeeded in convincing the current government to designate Hadja Lahbib over its incumbent Commissioner, Didier Reynders.

This is how there are 16 male and 11 female nominees for Commissioners - not close to being balanced.

The downside of von der Leyen’s push for gender balance at the top table is that she has exacerbated a sentiment, that smaller member states are vulnerable to pressure and arm-twisting. This view certainly emboldens local Eurosceptics.

In Bulgaria, where I have spent the last month, people made jokes about whether the country will ever be allowed to have a male commissioner. Indeed, Bulgaria is the only EU member not to have one.

Another aspect is that von der Leyen has put pressure on countries that are not governed by the EPP. The prime minister of Romania is a social democrat, as is his Maltese colleague Robert Abela, Slovenia’s Robert Golob is from the Freedom Movement, affiliated to Renew, and Bulgaria is run by a caretaker government which in principle should be as apolitical as possible.

To be fair we should add that the female candidates put forward by Croatia, Finland, Portugal, and Sweden, are all from the EPP.

But, it will be interesting to see how the European Parliament reacts to the team von der Leyen announces shortly. The EPP is on track to get 14 seats in the College of Commissioners – including the post of President.

188 MEPs from EPP, out of 720, elected last June, equals a quarter of the total. 14 commissioners from EPP out of 27 equals more than half.

If the proportion is distorted, this is not entirely Von der Leyen’s fault; the respective governments, often in coalition, chose their candidates, and this is how EPP ended up over-represented.

The bottom line is that with too many male commissioners, and too many EPP members of the EU executive, the jury is out. The jury, of course, is the new European Parliament, which will have the opportunity to show its face and character when von der Leyen presents her new team.

The Roundup

United Nations chief António Guterres has defended the work of the body’s Security Council amid talk of its ineffectiveness in the current global context, in an interview with Euractiv’s partner EFE.

EU Politics Decoded - Fractured Consensus: Migration debate highlights EU’s internal struggles

French Economic and Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire announced on Thursday (12 September) that he would not stay in post after the new government is announced next week, taking on a professorship in economic policy and geopolitics at the University of Lausanne, saying "love you and leave you" in his farewell speech.

The European Union’s top court ruled on Thursday (12 September) that a Hungarian decree setting regulated prices for basic foodstuffs undermines fair competition, in a dispute first brought before a national court by international retailer SPAR.

A report drafted by EU defence companies on EU research and innovation funding calls out governments for not supporting projects financially and for a lack of long-term perspective for their projects.

Europe’s carmakers are struggling as they navigate a slowdown in electric vehicle (EVs) sales and fierce competition from China. Euractiv contacted MEPs from carmaking countries to ask them what the EU can do to turn the situation around.

As Germany is to start checks at all its land borders, clarifications from the authorities on how such checks will work suggest that the actual disruption to those crossing the border could be less than anticipated.

Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis criticised Germany’s decision to introduce controls at its borders, saying such a move would endanger the Schengen Area, and hinted that Berlin’s current welfare policies may be to blame for attracting migrants.

To avoid future electricity price hikes, the German government is looking to reverse the liberalisation of its electricity market and move towards a more interventionist approach with the establishment of fixed-price capacity markets.

Look out for…

• European Commissioner for Budget and Administration Johannes Hahn meets with Philippine government representatives and investors to promote the EU, in Manila, Phillippines.
• European Commissioner for Agriculture Janusz Wojciechowski is in Cuiabá, Brazil, participating in the G20 agricultural ministers’ meeting.
• European Commission for Jobs and Social Rights Nicolas Schmit represents the EU at the G7 labour and employment ministers meeting in Cagliari, Italy, where he will meet UK Minister for Labour Alison McGovern and Canadian Deputy Minister of Employment and Social Development Paul Thompson.