Tensions rose on Monday as Breton publicly resigned from his role as Commissioner complicating her efforts to present a new College of 26 for the new term.
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00:00Tensions remain high in efforts to appoint a new European Commission.
00:06Theory Bretton slammed the door on a second term as French Commissioner resigning on Monday
00:11with a sharp attack on the President, Ursula von der Leyen.
00:15With an empty frame in an ex-post, Bretton accused her of questionable governance and
00:20lobbying for someone else.
00:23A European Commission spokesperson declined to comment on these allegations.
00:29The new name indicated by the Paris government is Stéphane Séjourné, current Minister
00:42of Foreign Affairs and former MEP.
00:46With another male candidate, Ursula von der Leyen continues to struggle to achieve gender
00:50parity among the 26 candidates sent by the member states.
00:55The Slovenian government accepted her request to change the initial male candidate to diplomat
01:00Marta Kos, but Parliament is resisting to give the green light.
01:05This case led to a week's delay in presenting the list to the European Parliament, which
01:10will be carrying the interviews with all candidates before voting on them.
01:16We are preparing ourselves, we are coordinating with regards to questions, but ultimately
01:21until we get a clearer picture with regards to how portfolios will be distributed and
01:27how portfolios will be taking shape, it will be more difficult for us to conclude our work.
01:35The President of the European Commission will also face pressure regarding two nominees
01:39from the far right.
01:41Hungary kept the current Commissioner, Oliver Varhely, that protagonized several scandals.
01:47Also controversial is the former MEP and current EU Affairs Minister of Italy, Raffaele Fitto.
01:54I think someone that has so consistently voted against the rule of law, against democracy,
01:59against the fundamental values of the European Union, whenever we have voted on this here
02:04in the European Parliament over the last five years, is not exactly putting an emphasis
02:09on a strong candidature, particularly for a Vice President of the Commission.
02:16The European Commission spokesperson insisted that Ursula von der Leyen still intends to
02:20present the list of nominees and attributed portfolios on Tuesday to the European Parliament.