French EU Commissioner Thierry Breton has surprisingly announced his immediate resignation. In a letter published on Platform X, he cited differences with EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen as the reason. The German is in the final phase of putting together the Commission for her second term as head of the Brussels authority. Breton was previously Commissioner for the Internal Market and Services.
In the letter, Breton accused von der Leyen of having asked France a few days ago to withdraw his name for the new Commission – and for personal reasons that she had not discussed directly with him. The Frenchman went on to write that he must resign as EU Commissioner with immediate effect “in view of these recent developments, which represent further evidence of questionable governance”.
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Von der Leyen’s new Commission is supposed to be presented this week in the EU Parliament in Strasbourg. Breton was considered a given – and it was expected that he would again be given an important portfolio.
The EU Commission is headed by around 32,000 employees who, among other things, make proposals for new EU laws and monitor compliance with the European treaties.
Breton repeatedly attracted criticism
There had already been trouble between von der Leyen and Macron following the appointment of former French Economy Minister Breton as Internal Market Commissioner in 2019. There was initially no reaction from the Élysée Palace in Paris to Breton’s withdrawal. Von der Leyen also did not initially comment.
In Berlin and other European capitals, Breton’s departure is unlikely to be viewed with great regret. Government representatives have repeatedly accused the Frenchman in the past of one-sidedly representing the economic policy interests of his home country, although Commission representatives are actually supposed to act independently of the national interests of individual governments. In addition, Breton’s recent uncoordinated confrontation with the US tech billionaire Elon Musk was viewed critically.
© dpa-infocom, dpa:240916-930-233706/2
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