Pressure for gender equality continues after European Commission nominations deadline passes ━ The European Conservative

The deadline for EU member states to put forward their choices for the next European Commission passed on Sunday, with all 27 capitals successfully nominating their candidates. The ball is now in the court of President-elect Ursula von der Leyen to distribute portfolios among them as she sees fit, before the incoming commissioners appear before the European Parliament for MEPs’ approval.

But von der Leyen has a problem: only nine candidates are women (excluding herself) and 17 are men, something she finds unacceptable in this day and age. In order to achieve gender parity, she even asked countries to put forward two names this year, one male and one female, that she could mix and match for the best results. However, since nominations for commissioners are an exclusive competence of the member states, all but one country (Bulgaria) ignored this ridiculous (and frankly undemocratic) request.

Although the time for change is officially over, von der Leyen is reportedly still trying to pressure smaller, vulnerable member states to change their minds about their male candidates and put forward women instead. She is doing this just to avoid the humiliation of failing to form a gender-balanced cabinet, despite her promise to do so.

As we reported last week, Maltese diplomats revealed that the elected president is deliberately ignoring the principles of sovereignty and democracy (and even the interests of women) by blackmailing smaller and therefore politically weaker member states, promising them influential portfolios (such as budget or defence) if they change their minds – or the consequences if they don’t.

“The (Maltese) government has to decide: stand by our nominee and appear strong, but get a weaker portfolio. Or change nominee, appear weak, but get a stronger brief,” an anonymous diplomat described the country’s dilemma. Malta did not give in and stuck with its candidate, Prime Minister Robert Abela’s chief adviser Glenn Micallef.

But ironically, given the context, it seems von der Leyen can’t take no for an answer. Unnamed diplomats revealed Politics Monday that the president-elect is still trying to pressure at least five smaller member states, including Malta and Slovenia, to nominate women instead.

There is no information available on whether von der Leyen is making progress, but it is unlikely that she will have anything to show for her efforts, other than growing resentment from member states. Nevertheless, she has set aside a few weeks to distribute portfolios in order to play her game, and she is not expected to give up in the meantime.

But even if she fails to force a country to withdraw their male nominations, the European Parliament could still do her dirty work for her. MEPs must approve each commissioner, starting in late September or early October, and it is entirely possible that the mainstream “Ursula coalition” will reject some of them simply on the basis of their gender, forcing countries to reconsider their position.

So far, von der Leyen’s mafia tactics appear to have been successful in only one case: the Romanian Socialist government (PSD) changed its mind about the choice of commissioner at the very last minute and nominated MEP Roxana Mînzatu instead of her colleague Victor Negrescu.

“I accept this decision because I have always supported gender rights, which I believe was the only argument for not putting my name forward,” Negrescu told reporters, trying to maintain his dignity. “I hope that other countries and political groups will make the same effort.”

Negrescu’s resignation could also be motivated by the fact that the MEP went a bit too far last week when he complained that the European Socialists have too few commissioners compared to von der Leyen’s centrist EPP. He also demanded that the elected president put pressure on the government to give up its seat or risk a boycott by the left.