Von der Leyen said that without her commitment, the next “college” of European commissioners would be dominated by men.
ADVERTISING
Wednesday Ursula von der Leyen it was said exasperated after Member States have undermined its efforts to ensure a “college” of commissioners, charged with guiding the work of the EU’s powerful executive arm over the next five years, gender balanced.
In one letter sent to heads of state and government in Julythe President of the Commission had explicitly asked for two candidatures – male and female – for the role of European Commissioner. Only one Member State – the Bulgaria – acceded to the request, which had no legal weight.
Since then Von der Leyen has initiated negotiations with many smaller member statesasking them to replace their male candidates with women. The list of candidates who are putting themselves forward to join von der Leyen’s team is now composed of nine women and 17 men.
“Throughout my political life I have fought for women to have access to decision-making and leadership positions,” von der Leyen said in Brussels on Wednesday. “And my experience is that If you don’t ask for it, you don’t get it. It doesn’t come naturally.“, he continued. “That’s why I sent my letter. Because if I hadn’t sent this letter, there wouldn’t have been the opportunity (…) to discuss the issue of diversity.”
Von der Leyen denounced the lack of female candidates, saying that Only four countries – Spain, Sweden, Finland and Croatia – initially proposed womenFormer Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas had been nominated for the role of High Representative for Foreign Affairs by EU leaders already at the end of June.
“If I had not sent this letter, what would have been the case? The initial proposals, if you look at the names (…) in addition to the High Representative and me, the president, of the 25 member states there were four women and 21 men,” von der Leyen said. “So without that letter and without that discussion that would have been the next college,” she added, “and so it is absolutely worth it.”
It seems that his efforts were instrumental in securing female candidacies from Belgium, Portugal, Bulgaria and even Romania.which on Monday has replaced his male candidate with MEP Roxana Mînzatu.
Diplomatic sources told Euronews that von der Leyen has tried to convince other small member states as well, including Slovenia and Maltato withdraw their male candidacies and replace them with women. The Slovenian government said in a statement on Tuesday press release who would not withdraw his original proposal, Tomaž Vesel.
The first criterion is competence
Neither Vesel nor Malta’s candidate, Glenn Micallef, have experience in government or high-level diplomacy. On Wednesday, von der Leyen reiterated that the expertise and experience in the field will be a prerequisite for joining his team.
“The first criterion is competence. The Commission needs competence and competence means high level political experience, executive experience – for example former prime ministers, former ministers or deputy ministers – or at least high-level diplomatic experience or high-level work in European institutions“, the president explained. “This is a crucial aspect, the first and most important.”
Von der Leyen also acknowledged that in some cases the male candidates put forward by EU countries were more competent than the female alternatives, but that in other cases it was “the other way around”.
The President of the EU executive is currently leading interviews with candidates and plans to confirm the distribution of the portfolios by September 19th. All candidates must be heard before the relevant committees of the European Parliament and confirmed before being installed in their role.
ADVERTISING
