Men dominate nominations for EU commission, as von der Leyen's push for gender equality fails
Ursula von der Leyen has been re-elected for a second term in office as President of the European Commission – but all 26 Commissioners are not yet known.
EU member states were given until Friday to say who they want to propose as Commissioner.
However, not everyone has done so by the deadline – Belgium, in political turmoil after June elections, remains the last hold-out.
Also, Bulgaria was the only member state to accede to von der Leyen's request to put forward both a man and a woman, allowing her to select one; she may also push back on some of the male choices, given that she wants to achieve gender balance.
Once the final roster is known in mid-September, they’ll be assigned portfolios and submit themselves for confirmation from the European Parliament.
Here is a look at the last-minute candidates from EU member states that came in by the end of von der Leyen's deadline.
Bulgaria
Former Foreign Minister Ekaterina Zaharieva and former Ecology Ministery Julian Popov were proposed as Bulgaria’s two candidates for European Commissioner on Friday (30 August).
The candidacies were apparently discussed late Friday between Bulgarian President Rumen Radev and Prime Minister Dimitar Glavchev, and confirmed in a post on X by Bulgaria's EU representation.
That makes Bulgaria the only country to accede to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen’s request to propose both male and female candidates by a 30 August deadline.
Italy
Italy's newly announced EU Commissioner nominee, Raffaele Fitto, has had a long political career that began in Puglia.
Born in Maglie in the province of Lecce in 1969 and a graduate in law, he was elected in 1990 as a regional councillor with the Christian Democratic Party (DC), the first in a series of posts that would take him to Brussels as an MEP (in 1999, 2014 and 2019) and now as a Commissioner.
Denmark
Denmark has selected Dan Jørgensen for Ursula von der Leyen’s second team of European Commissioners.
The widely expected nomination of Jørgensen, a social democrat, was part of a wider cabinet reshuffle announced by Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen.
Jørgensen is not new to Brussels, as he started his political career in 2004 as a member of the European Parliament, a position he held until 2013.
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Belgium
Belgium has still not yet managed to choose a commissioner as the country finds itself in political turmoil.
It remains among the countries widely expected to appoint a male Commissioner, despite von der Leyen's push for a gender balance. Only a handful of female European Commissioner candidates have been nominated so far.
