European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen has formally written to EU member states including Ireland on Thursday, seeking two names for nomination to become EU commissioners.
The Government has already said it will nominate former finance minister Michael McGrath and would not propose a second nominee.
Speaking after her re-election as head of the commission last week, Ms von der Leyen had said she would ask countries to put forward two names, a man and a woman, as their nominees to pick from, to allow her to put together a gender-balanced team of commissioners.
The German politician has now written to EU countries including Ireland requesting two names, stating at least one should be a woman, a commission source stated.
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Her letter gave national governments until August 30th to put forward names for the positions, Ms von der Leyen’s spokesman said.
Tánaiste Micheál Martin reiterated on Thursday that Mr McGrath is the Irish nominee and gave no indication that Ireland will also nominate a woman.
Ms von der Leyen intends to interview candidates before deciding what portfolio to allocate each country’s commissioner. The successful nominees would then have to be approved by the European Parliament, which traditionally rejects at least one proposed commissioner.
Ireland is seeking a finance-related commission portfolio again, with outgoing Irish commissioner Mairead McGuinness having held the role responsible for financial services.
However, competition for finance briefs in the next commission is expected to be intense.
Ireland’s chances of a prominent position could be damaged by the decision to ignore Ms von der Leyen’s request for country’s to nominate a man and a woman for her to choose from.
This is compounded by the fact four MEPs from Mr McGrath’s party, Fianna Fáil, voted against Ms von der Leyen’s recent appointment for a second term in a crunch European Parliament confirmation vote.
[ Europe Letter: Second von der Leyen term to be one of compromise and criticismOpens in new window ]
However, speaking in Dublin, Fianna Fáil leader and Minister for Foreign Affairs Mr Martin offered no indication the Government will change its mind on sending the name of just one nominee, Mr McGrath.
He said he has not seen Ms von der Leyen’s letter yet and “we certainly weren’t notified yesterday of any correspondence”.
He said the Government “will respond in due course to that letter”, adding that “jurisdiction” for Ireland’s nominee for the Commission is “within the Government’s realm”.
Mr Martin was asked if Ireland will nominate a woman as well and, if not, whether it would weaken the chances of getting a good portfolio in the new commission.
He replied the “clear decision” of the Government was to nominate Mr McGrath, then minister for finance.
Put to him that it sounded like Ireland would not put forward a woman nominee he said: “We have to be honest with everybody too. The nominee was Michael McGrath, a senior Minister of Government at the time. That was the nominee.”
Mr Martin also said he understands Phil Hogan was the Irish government’s only nominee in 2019.
Last week Taoiseach Simon Harris said the Government would not bow to Ms von der Leyen’s demand for a second candidate to fill Ireland’s place on the commission.
Defending the nomination of Mr McGrath, Mr Harris said the European Union treaties “do allow member states to decide their commissioner, and I do think it’s important that we have that right to adhere to the treaties”.
Saying that it was his “absolute determination” to work closely with Ms von der Leyen, Mr Harris said he believed the EC president is “a fair person who will want to assemble the best team”.
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