The autumn’s first plenary session in the European Parliament this week is shaping up to be quite a memorable one—and for multiple reasons. President-elect Ursula von der Leyen is expected to present her plan for distributing portfolios in her new cabinet to MEPs but the deadlock that has resulted from her obsessive gender requirements makes it impossible to stay on schedule.
As we explained last week, Slovenia’s progressive government is still unable to finalize its commissioner nomination after von der Leyen is suspected of having pressured it to ditch its initial male candidate in favor of a woman, Marta Kos, possibly offering the enlargement portfolio in return. The parliamentary committee that is supposed to confirm the Kos’ nomination is controlled by the right-wing opposition. It has said it will not schedule the meeting until Slovenian PM Robert Golob releases his correspondence with von der Leyen and admits that the swap was motivated by Brussels’ blackmail.
Ex-Slovenian PM and opposition leader Janez Janša confirmed to The European Conservative on Monday morning that there is no sign that Golob will release the documents anytime soon, so the Right is not planning on lifting its roadblock either, at least until the Friday deadline set by Ljubljana’s procedural rules.
Von der Leyen was supposed to unveil her choices for each cabinet member in front of the Conference of Presidents (heads of each parliamentary group) last week, but the Slovenian deadlock—as well as last-minute demands from the socialists—forced her to delay that meeting.
Now, von der Leyen will not be able to present her complete portfolio distribution in Strasbourg either. This has led both legislators and Brussels media to speculate: will there be a ‘big reveal’ on the rest of the jobs (excluding Slovenia) or should we expect a more vague concept plan from von der Leyen, accompanied by extensive damage control?
Besides the Slovenia fiasco, von der Leyen now has to deal with an even bigger blow: France’s Internal Market Commissioner Thierry Breton, who was supposed to serve for another term, unexpectedly resigned on Monday morning. It seems the Commission president has only herself to blame again.
“In the very final stretch of negotiations on the composition of the future College, [von der Leyen] asked France to withdraw my name,” Breton posted on X. “I am therefore resigning from my position as European Commissioner, effective immediately.”
It’s unclear whether von der Leyen just wanted another female commissioner or had problems with Breton himself and had enough of the Frenchman showing some agency in these past years, but the fact that she has tried to influence several member states as big as France to change their picks—something that she has absolutely no legal grounds for—has angered European governments Left and Right, severely undermining confidence in her leadership even before her second term begins.
“In 40 years, I have never seen such a crisis with an outgoing Commissioner,” Liberation’s long-time EU correspondent Jean Quatremer commented on X. “Von der Leyen is now out of control and that is why Emmanuel Macron would have liked to replace her. … She is sending a clear message: she only wants ‘yes men.’ A side effect of this crisis: the new Commission will not be known this week and it will take up its duties with great delay.”
Indeed, it is increasingly likely that the new administration will not be up and running before January, with the dragged-out process stalling several key pieces of legislation. Once the full roster of commissioners is ready, they must all go through hearings in the Parliament and be confirmed with a two-thirds majority. Given the national conservatives’ increased numbers, it is likely that many will be rejected in the first round and only approved with a simple majority in the second.
The only thing that could have made this plenary even more interesting (and uncomfortable for von der Leyen) was the expected keynote speech of Hungary’s conservative, sovereigntist prime minister, Viktor Orbán, followed by a fiery debate between him and the MEPs. Orbán was supposed to present the priorities of the Hungarian Council presidency on Wednesday and some leftist lawmakers were already contemplating requesting a ban to prevent him from taking center stage and spreading his right-wing ideals. At the last minute, however, Orbán announced on Monday morning that he would postpone all his foreign trips for the next couple of days as Central European countries are grappling with historic floods and the worst is expected to hit Hungary by Wednesday.
