European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has given the 27 EU Member States until 30 August to put forward their European Commissioner candidates, but the parties negotiating Belgium's next Federal Government have yet to start the conversation.
While all eyes are on the faltering Federal Government formation, Belgium should not lose sight of who its next European Commissioner will be. However, the fact that formator Bart De Wever (N-VA) has to go to the King without a coalition agreement on Thursday evening threatens to jeopardise the first deadline in the formation.
Von der Leyen has given Belgium until the end of next week to nominate a Commissioner. In fact, her letter was delivered directly to De Wever – making it clear that the candidate should be nominated by the incoming government, not the outgoing one.
No clear candidate
The five parties which have so far held talks on forming a new Federal Government – N-VA, CD&V, Vooruit, MR and Les Engagés – have not yet discussed the issue, a source told Belga News Agency. The current impasse does not bring those talks any closer.
Belgium might become the last country to nominate a Commissioner: 21 Member States have already done so, and the five others (Bulgaria, Denmark, Italy, Luxembourg and Portugal) have more or less decided on their candidates, Euronews reports.
This leaves Belgium as the only Member State without a clear candidate. Still, several names have been circulated: Didier Reynders (MR) may stay on as Commissioner, but his party colleague Sophie Wilmès is also mentioned, as are Frank Vandenbroucke (Vooruit) and new MEP Yvan Verougstraete (Les Engagés).
MR's Didier Reynders. Credit: Belga / Hatim Kaghat
Last month, von der Leyen said that she wanted a gender balance in her new team. She is therefore asking Member States to put forward both a female and a male Commissioner-designate, from which she will then choose the most competent candidate. An EU country does not have to nominate two candidates if it chooses to keep its current Commissioner.
However, as things stand, the new team of Commissioners is likely to consist of 20 men and seven women. "The process is still ongoing. We will examine the case when it is finalised," von der Leyen's spokesperson Eric Mamer said on Thursday afternoon.
In any case, von der Leyen is currently holding numerous talks with European heads of state and government, in which the composition of her Commission is a key issue.
