After her re-election as head of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen can now start forming her commission together with the EU member states. She has already made a big wish: the governments must each nominate two candidates – a woman and a man – for the position of EU commissioner. However, there should be exceptions for a number of countries.
The German politician’s goal is an equal distribution of male and female commissioners. Von der Leyen will therefore probably ask the government in Vienna in the coming weeks to nominate two candidates, who she will then interview. It is known that the EU Commissioner for Austria, Johannes Hahn, who has been in office since 2010, is not seeking a new term. Until now, Finance Minister Magnus Brunner (ÖVP) was seen as a promising candidate after he met von der Leyen in Vienna in June.
Previously, European Minister Karoline Edtstadler (ÖVP) was considered a possible candidate for the post of Commissioner. NEOS and the Greens recently put ex-ÖVP MP and EP Vice-President Othmar Karas into play.
This is how candidates in Austria choose
The domestic procedure in Austria stipulates that the Chancellor first requests consultation with the Presidium of the National Council. Then there is a decision by the Council of Ministers and finally a “formal agreement” in the main EU Commission. For this, the candidate needs a majority. Only then will the nomination of the designated Commissioner be formally communicated to the Secretariat of the EU Council.
The nominated team from all member states will then have to undergo a hearing in the EU Parliament in the autumn. In the past, it has happened quite often that individual candidates were rejected by parliamentarians and the countries concerned had to nominate a new candidate.
Source: Krone
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