President-elect Ursula von der Leyen today gave her agreement to the draft list of Commissioners-designate provided to her by the Council of the European Union. This follows a series of formal interviews President-elect von der Leyen held, over the past weeks, with each of the persons suggested by the Member States as candidates for Commissioner.
Next Steps:
The Council of the European Union must now adopt this list, in accordance with Article 17(7) of the Treaty on European Union (TEU), after which the list will be published in the Official Journal of the EU. Tomorrow President-elect von der Leyen will announce the distribution of portfolios and the way she intends to organise the work of the next European Commission.
The European Parliament must then give its consent to the entire College of Commissioners, including the President and the High-Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy/Vice-President of the European Commission. This is preceded by hearings of the Commissioners-designate in the relevant parliamentary committees, in line with Rule 125 of the Parliament’s Rules of Procedure. Once the European Parliament has given its consent, the European Council formally appoints the European Commission, in line with Article 17(7) TEU.
Josep Borrell (Spain) was designated High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy by the European Council in agreement with President-elect Ursula von der Leyen (Germany).
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Ursula von der Leyen was proposed as candidate for President of the European Commission by the European Council on 2 July 2019. On the basis of the Political Guidelines she set out before the European Parliament, Ursula von der Leyen was elected to become next President of the European Commission by a majority of 387 votes in the European Parliament plenary session of 16 July 2019.
On 23 August, the Council received a letter from the UK Representative to the European Union stating that: “As the United Kingdom will be leaving the European Union on 31 October 2019, the Prime Minister announced in the House of Commons on 25 July that we would not nominate a UK Commissioner for the new Commission, and that this was not intended to stop the EU appointing a new Commission. I am writing formally to confirm that, in accordance with the Prime Minister’s Statement, the United Kingdom will not be nominating a candidate for the 2019-2024 College of Commissioners.”
