Irish Government thought to have made several early missteps in European commissioner job race
Behind the scenes there was broad recognition that the Government made several early missteps in European commissioner job raceIt had been about a month since the Fianna Fáil politician had stepped down as minister for finance, after being nominated by the Government to be Ireland’s next EU commissioner.
The German’s first task was to sort out what portfolios to hand to commissioners nominated by each country. Announcing her decision on Tuesday, the most sought-after jobs were handed to France, Spain, Italy, Poland, Latvia, Slovakia and Finland. Then Ireland ignored her request for two names from each country to pick from, with at least one being a woman, to give her a better chance of forming a gender-balanced team of 27. Ireland was one of the first countries to nominate their next commissioner. Under the Coalition agreement it was Fianna Fáil’s turn to pick, and McGrath was announced as the choice in late June.
Harris and Martin continued to make the case for McGrath getting a finance role in a series of calls with the commission president. Fine Gael sits in the same EU political grouping as von der Leyen, the centre-right European People’s Party , a connection Harris sought to lean on. As names began to be put down beside several of the important portfolios with more certainty, Irish officials in Brussels were becoming increasingly worried about what might be left.
“We were pushing for rule of law, competitiveness and industry, and defence,” says one senior Renew source.
European Commission Ursula Von Der Leyen
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