Ursula von der Leyen, who was re-nominated for the post of President of the European Commission, will again ask the member states of the Community to nominate two candidates for the positions of European Commissioners - a man and a woman, reports RMF FM, citing a source from Brussels.
Although von der Leyen has not yet been confirmed in the post - the vote in the European Parliament will be on July 18, the process of allocating portfolios in the European Commission and the fight for the most influential of them has actually already begun.
Ursula von der Leyen, as in the formation of the previous composition of the European Commission, plans to ask the member states to propose two candidates for European Commissioner - a man and a woman, in order to ensure a balance between the sexes.
"The later a country nominates a candidate, the greater the pressure will be to nominate a female candidate,”, the source explained.
So far, eight countries have officially or semi-officially spoken out, putting forward proposals mostly for men.
Thus, Latvia's Valdis Dombrovskis, EC vice-president in charge of economic affairs, and France's Thierry Breton, who in the body's previous composition dealt with the internal market and the strengthening of the European defense industry, were again nominated. It may be difficult for von der Leyen to offer them less influential positions or to prefer a female candidate from these countries.
As for Poland, there is still no certainty about the likely candidates. The name of the current foreign minister, Radoslav Sikorski, has often come up in discussions, but he insists that he is more interested in staying in his post. The Polish ambassador to the EU, Piotr Serafin, also began to be mentioned. The process could be delayed by disputes over whether the candidacy of a European commissioner should be approved by President Andrzej Duda.
As RMF FM notes, a female candidate will have a better chance of getting a more influential portfolio in the European Commission because of Von der Leyen's approach, especially in the case of Poland.