Politico: Von der Leyen pressures EU countries to nominate women to the European Commission

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen is increasing pressure on EU countries to nominate women to the next European Commission.

Politico writes about this with reference to sources.

Two EU officials have pointed to the risk of "embarrassment" for the institution that publicly promotes gender equality and acts as the "equality commissioner" if von der Leyen does not significantly achieve parity between women and men in the EU.

They say that such a failure risks overshadowing the fact that the three most important positions in the EU will be held by women: von der Leyen as the president of the European Commission, the Estonian Kaja Kallas at the head of the EUʼs foreign policy service and the president of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola.

As Politico points out, von der Leyen faces an unexpected challenge as she assembles her team of 26 commissioners from EU member states: achieving gender parity. So far, the national capitals have submitted nine candidacies of women, in addition to von der Leyen herself.

Experts and politicians who agree with von der Leyenʼs request say her commission could be less collegial and ultimately less effective because of the lack of women at the negotiating table.

Earlier, von der Leyenʼs efforts had already resulted in Belgium saying on Monday it would send a female commissioner and Romania agreeing to replace its proposed male commissioner with a female commissioner.

Three diplomats who spoke to Politico said von der Leyen had pressured at least five smaller EU countries, including Slovenia and Malta, to consider replacing the male candidates they nominated with female candidates.

• The European Commission is the highest executive body of the European Union, which roughly corresponds to the role and functions of the government in the systems of nation states. Unlike national governments, the European Commission can also act as a legislative initiative.
• The commission consists of 27 members, including the president and vice president. Although each member is appointed by the national government, one from each EU member state, they do not represent their country in the EC. However, in practice, they sometimes defend the national interests of their countries.