France’s EU commissioner Thierry Breton has resigned, criticising the “questionable governance” of the European Commission under president Ursula von der Leyen.
Mr Breton, who had been put forward for a second term, had been in line for a senior position in Dr von der Leyen’s new team of 26 EU commissioners, who are nominated by each EU country.
In a resignation letter published on X, formerly Twitter, Mr Breton claimed Dr von der Leyen asked France to withdraw his name and nominate someone else in recent days, in exchange for “an allegedly more influential portfolio”.
Mr Breton, who had been commissioner for the internal market, had frequently clashed with Dr von der Leyen during the past five years.
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In his letter, the French politician said the latest development was “further testimony to questionable governance” and had led him to conclude he could no longer continue as a commissioner in the EU’s executive body.
Although Dr von der Leyen had asked each EU country to put forward two nominees for its next commissioner, with at least one being a woman, she said this request would not apply to capitals reappointing existing commissioners, such as Mr Breton.
In his letter to Dr von der Leyen, Mr Breton said her move to try to get France to pull his name had been made “for personal reasons that in no instance you have discussed directly with me”. The request had been made “a few days ago, in the very final stretch of negotiations”, he wrote.
The commission president had “offered, as a political trade-off, an allegedly more influential portfolio for France”, he said.
Stéphane Séjourné, the French minister for Europe and foreign affairs, has been nominated as France’s new commissioner, according to a statement from the Élysée Palace. Mr Séjourné was previously an adviser to Mr Macron and secretary general of his centrist Renaissance party, as well as a MEP.
A leak reported by German publication Die Welt earlier this month indicated Mr Breton was being lined up for a senior position in the next commission team covering industry and strategic autonomy.
Dr von der Leyen had been scheduled to announce what portfolios she would be allocating to each commissioner on Tuesday, but that deadline was already expected to be missed.
The resignation of Mr Breton could force Dr von der Leyen to reshuffle what portfolios she had intended to hand out to other commissioners.
Ireland has nominated as its next commissioner former finance minister Michael McGrath, who last week was in the frame for the commissioner for justice role, according to several commission and Fianna Fáil sources.
A spokeswoman for the commission said Dr von der Leyen accepted Mr Breton’s resignation, and thanked him for his work during the previous term.
The commission said it would not be commenting on its discussions with national capitals and the ongoing process of deciding what job each commissioner would be given. “We have not been commenting on this process until now and we will continue to not to comment in relation to this case,” the spokeswoman said.
The planned announcement on Tuesday of what portfolios each commissioner nominee would be given was already unlikely to go ahead, due to a political row in Slovenia.
Slovenia had originally put forward Tomaz Vesel, the former president of its court of auditors, as its next commissioner. However, at the last minute, Mr Vesel pulled out and the government picked Marta Kos, a former diplomat and liberal politician, as its nominee at the start of last week.
The opposition party, the right-wing Slovenian Democratic Party (SDS), accused the government of bowing to pressure from Dr von der Leyen to replace Mr Vesel with a woman. As a result a parliamentary committee chaired by a politician from the SDS has so far refused to meet to confirm the nomination of Ms Kos.
