Slovenia delay buys negotiating time for von der Leyen

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has been given more time to negotiate commissioners’ portfolios with EU governments, after Slovenia said its parliament has to hold an advisory vote on newly-appointed candidate Marta Kos.

The Commission announced on Tuesday (10 September) that a meeting with European Parliament political leaders due the following day – in which von der Leyen was expected to reveal which jobs she will assign to each of the new commissioners – had been moved to 17 September to allow time for a vote in the Slovenian parliament on Kos’s nomination.

Von der Leyen is still in tough negotiations with some EU governments on which jobs their nominated commissioners she will give them. The delay therefore buys her more time to strike deals.

The Slovenian parliament is expected to vote on Kos’s nomination on Friday (13 September). A government spokeswoman said that while the parliament’s opinion is non-binding, the law requires that a vote be held. The timing of the vote is not dictated by law, however.

Kos, a former diplomat, was nominated by Prime Minister Robert Golob on Monday (9 September).

Ljubljana originally proposed Tomaž Vesel to be its commissioner, but Vesel withdrew on 6 September under pressure from von der Leyen, who wants more EU governments to nominate female commissioners.

Although von der Leyen controls the distribution of portfolios – such as justice, trade, EU enlargement or competition policy – each of the 27 EU countries has the right to decide for itself who it sends to the Commission.

The Commission president is Germany’s nominee, already approved by EU member states and the European Parliament, while Estonia’s Kaja Kallas is lined-up for the foreign affairs job.

Von der Leyen initially asked the remaining member states to each nominate both a man and a woman, so that she could choose between them and ensure the Commission’s 27-member leadership – known as the College – is roughly half female and half male.

But most member states have refused. One of the first to object was Ireland: Prime Minister Simon Harris nominated Michael McGrath, who had to resign from his position as finance minister to accept the nomination. Harris argued that it would be unfair to nominate a second candidate given he was asking McGrath to step down.

Von der Leyen has no formal authority to force member states to nominate women, but she can use her control of the portfolios – as well as the Commission’s policy agenda – as leverage. Before Vesel’s withdrawal, the last country to nominate a commissioner was Belgium, whose outgoing government picked foreign minister Hadja Lahbib over its incumbent commissioner, Didier Reynders.