The head of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, presented the proposed new group of commissioners after negotiations with EU member states.
The European Commission is the EU’s equivalent of a cabinet, and each commissioner is responsible for a different portfolio.
Of the total of 26 proposed commissioners, 10 are women and 16 are men.
When she was elected president of the European Commission for a second five-year term in July, Ms von der Leyen asked member states to put forward two names, one man and one woman, as candidates.
However, few countries initially heeded her plea.
“When I received the first nominations … we had a share of 22% women and 78% men,” he said, adding that this was “completely unacceptable”.
Ms von der Leyen said that after working with member states she managed to improve the share to 40% women and 60% men. “As much as we have achieved, we still have a lot of work to do,” he added.
The unveiling of Ms von der Leyen’s proposed top team follows a series of weeks of horse-trading.
Powerful positions have gone to candidates from across the political spectrum. Spain’s Teresa Ribera, a socialist, France’s Stéphane Séjourné, a liberal, and Raffaele Fitto, a member of Italy’s far-right Brothers of Italy, are set to become executive vice presidents in charge of key economic portfolios.
Although Commissioners’ portfolios are intended to be independent of their countries of origin, this is often not the case and Member States compete for their candidates to occupy prestigious positions.
And on Monday, France’s powerful former internal market commissioner Thierry Breton resigned in dramatic fashion.
In a letter posted to X, he accused Ms von der Leyen of assassinating him by promising French President Emmanuel Macron a more prestigious portfolio for France in exchange for ousting Mr Breton.
All of Ms von der Leyen’s options will now have to be scrutinized by the committees and approved by Parliament.
There is no guarantee that all proposed commissioners will survive the process.
The European Parliament’s Socialists and Democrats, for example, have already pointed out that Italy’s Raffaele Fitto, who is close to right-wing Prime Minister Giorgia Melonis , “does not meet the demands of our political family”, while French MEP Valérie Hayer, leader of the Liberals of the EU, said her party would make “real demands” of Mr Fitto during the vetting process.
The new Commission is due to take office before the end of the year.
