Tomaž Vesel apparently withdrew after Ursula von der Leyen pushed for gender parity in her future team.
Slovenian Tomaž Vesel has withdrawn his candidacy to join Ursula von der Leyen’s team of European commissioners after the Slovenian government came under pressure to nominate a female candidate, according to Slovenian news agency STA.
The decision was made on the basis of “discussions” with von der Leyen that “concluded that they had divergent views on the functioning of the new European Commission,” STA reported.
The news comes after von der Leyen pressured smaller EU member states to choose female candidates for the next EU executive, in order to help her achieve gender balance in the next team, diplomatic sources said.
The Slovenian government had initially defied the pressure, saying in a statement Tuesday that the coalition government remained “united” around Vesel’s candidacy.
But on Wednesday, von der Leyen expressed frustration with EU governments that were undermining her efforts to ensure equal representation of men and women in her next college, the 27 senior officials who will lead the EU’s powerful executive for the next five years.
“Throughout my political life, I have fought for women to have access to decision-making positions and leadership positions,” von der Leyen said in Brussels on Wednesday.
“And my experience has shown me that if you don’t ask for it, you don’t get it. It doesn’t come naturally,” she continued. “That’s why I sent my letter. Because if I hadn’t sent this letter, there would have been no hook … to address the issue of diversity.” »
In July, she had explicitly asked member states to nominate two candidates, one man and one woman. Only one country, Bulgaria, responded positively to this request, leaving the list of candidates vying to join Ursula von der Leyen’s team with nine women and 17 men.
Von der Leyen also said that competence and relevant experience were prerequisites for joining her team, adding that a European commissioner must have experience in government, diplomacy or EU institutions.
Vesel, a lawyer who previously served as president of the Slovenian Court of Auditors, may not have met these criteria.
Ursula von der Leyen also asked the EU’s smallest member state, Malta, to propose a woman as an alternative to Glenn Micallef, the 35-year-old former chief of staff of Prime Minister Robert Abela.
This article is originally published on observatoiredeleurope.com
