Romania and Belgium have named female candidates for the next European Commission as pressure mounts on Malta to change its nominee to help EU chief Ursula von der Leyen get more women on her team.
Romanian Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu announced Monday the country would nominate MEP Roxana Mînzatu in place of fellow MEP Victor Negrescu who was originally tipped for the role.
Meanwhile, Belgium is set to appoint Foreign Minister Hadja Lahbib after a similar change in direction, bringing the number of women set to join the commission’s ranks to 10, including von der Leyen.
News of the appointments comes as Malta also faces calls to swap out nominee Glenn Micallef for a female candidate. In a phone conversation on Friday evening, von der Leyen continued to pile pressure on Prime Minister Robert Abela, urging him to replace Micallef, according to sources close to government.
Negrescu told Politico Monday he understood he had lost out on the role amid von der Leyen pushing for female nominees, but said he accepted the decision while underscoring his “support for gender rights”.
And later that day, Belgium – the last country to nominate a candidate three days past the deadline – announced its intention to put forward Lahbib, in a blow to outgoing commissioner and initial favourite Didier Reynders.
The eleventh-hour changes come against a backdrop of mounting pressure from von der Leyen, who has pledged to make the next EU Commission more gender-balanced, and publicly called on member states to each present two nominees – a man and woman – for commission posts.
Most member states ignored the request, however, noting that no such provision exists within the EU treaties. Bulgaria is the only country to have nominated male and female candidates.
Last week, Times of Malta revealed how the head of the commission had asked Malta to change its nomination, with sources in Brussels saying von der Leyen had suggested keeping Malta's existing EU Commissioner, Helena Dalli, for a second term.
Since then, pressure has continued to mount.
Micallef is considered to be vulnerable because, unlike other nominees, the prime minister's former secretariat lacks political experience.
Sources said von der Leyen's demands have put Abela in a difficult position, forcing him to lose face at home by bowing to the demands – just months after having to backtrack on Chris Fearne, who was widely expected to be nominated – or risk Malta being given a weak portfolio.
Abela has made no public comment on the matter since Times of Malta reported on the issue last week.
While the deadline for nominations closed Friday, von der Leyen has roughly until the end of this week until she formally assigns portfolios to EU commissioners.
After being nominated, commissioners are grilled by MEPs, with the final decision taken by the European Council comprised of government heads of state.