The Government did not have any “back and forth” discussions with European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen about its plan to nominate Michael McGrath as Ireland’s next EU commissioner, Tánaiste Micheál Martin has said.
Ms von der Leyen is working to decide what portfolios will be given to commissioners put forward by each EU country, with an announcement expected around the second week of September.
Ireland has said it is interested in a finance-related role for Mr McGrath, who stepped down as minister for finance earlier this year to take on the EU job.
However, the Government’s chances of securing a powerful commission position have been seriously dented by several factors. Ireland was one of the first countries to formally nominate its candidate for commissioner, without consulting with the commission president on who they planned to put forward.
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The Government ignored a request from Ms von der Leyen for countries to propose two names, with at least one being a woman so she could build a gender-balanced team of commissioners.
Fianna Fáil’s four MEPs also voted against Ms von der Leyen in a European Parliament vote that confirmed her reappointment as president of the EU’s executive arm for another five years.
Speaking in Brussels on Thursday, Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs Micheál Martin said Mr McGrath had been a “high calibre” nominee to put forward as Ireland’s next commissioner.
The Fianna Fáil leader said there had been “no back and forth at a substantive level” with Ms von der Leyen on the Government’s pick before the Cabinet agreed to nominate Mr McGrath in June.
“I think it was similar in the case of Phil Hogan, when he would have been nominated originally, there wouldn’t have been a back and forth before that I’m informed,” Mr Martin said.
The details of the Coalition agreement, that Fianna Fáil would pick who to nominate for the EU role this time around, would have been flagged with Ms von der Leyen, he said.
“The Government’s view is we have put forward a very strong nominee in the form of a minister for finance, with considerable executive experience, as minister for public expenditure before that,” he said.
Mr Martin said he did not believe Ms von der Leyen would seek to punish Ireland when she decided what commission portfolio to allocate to Mr McGrath. The decision around who a country nominated as its commissioner rested with the member state, he said.
The Coalition had agreed Ireland would put forward a “senior” politician for the position, he said. “Former taoiseach Leo Varadkar would have said it to me as well that whoever is nominated has to be high calibre,” he said.
Ms von der Leyen would build a team of commissioners on the basis of candidates’ competence and experience, Mr Martin said. “We’ve put forward a very high calibre nominee – to me that’s the most important criteria in respect of filling a position in the commission,” he said. Mr Martin was speaking to journalists on his way into a meeting of EU foreign affairs ministers on Thursday.
EU countries have until Friday to submit their nominees for commissioner, with three countries still to announce their decision.
Ms von der Leyen is interviewing the candidates over the coming days, as she weighs up how to divvy out portfolios. A large number of other countries have also signalled their interest in securing a finance-related commissioner role.
The nominated commissioners will then need to be confirmed in their roles by the European Parliament, with hearings expected to take place in October.
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