Men dominate nominations for EU commission, as von der Leyen’s push for gender equality stalls

Brussels: The deadline for the nominations was set for 30 August. Here is a look at the key candidates from some of the EU member states so far.

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 new announced EU commissioner, Raffaele Fitto, has a long political career behind him 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 first as an MP (in 1999, 2014 and 2019) and now as a commissioner.

Denmark: Denmark has put forward Dan Jørgensen to be part of Ursula von der Leyen’s second team of EU 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.

Belgium: Belgium has still not yet managed to elect a commissioner as the country finds itself in political turmoil.

It is among the countries widely expected to appoint a male commissioner, despite von der Leyen’s push for a gender balance. Only very few female European Commissioner candidates have been nominated so far.