French candidate for the next European Commission and current EU Commissioner for the Internal Market, Thierry Breton, surprisingly resigned on Monday by posting a letter on X.
Breton alleged in his letter that European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen had asked France to nominate another person in exchange for “a reportedly more influential portfolio for France” in the commission.
Breton, the current French commissioner, said this “political assessment” with France “was made for personal reasons, which you have in no way discussed directly with me.”
The French candidate, who openly criticised von der Leyen’s leadership during the recent European Parliament elections, called this “further evidence of questionable governance” within the commission.
The surprise resignation comes as the Commission president prepares to present her new leadership team to the European Parliament on Tuesday.
The process has already been delayed as von der Leyen clashes with EU countries over policy portfolios, as he tries to balance geographical and political factors.
The issue is further complicated by von der Leyen’s request for EU member states to nominate a man and a woman for the positions in the Commission, in a bid to achieve gender parity among its European Commissioners.
The Commission President made an exception to this request for EU countries that wanted to nominate their sitting European Commissioner for a new term.
However, most EU member states ignored von der Leyen’s request and nominated only one candidate, most of whom were male.
There is no legal obligation in the EU treaties to nominate a man and a woman.
