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After failing to secure a majority in the French parliament following the July 7 legislative elections, President Emmanuel Macron must deal with opposition parties seeking to interfere in the appointment of future French commissioners.
Jean-Luc Mélenchon, leader of France Indomitable (LFI, left), said during a visit to Brussels on Wednesday (July 10) that the left-wing alliance New Popular Front (NFP) is “most qualified” to elect the next French commissioner.
Contrary to all opinion polls, the National Liberal Party won the second round of the legislative elections, followed by the Collective, Macron’s ruling coalition and the far-right National Rally (RN).
“In some countries, one would have the audacity to think that the first men in the National Assembly are best suited to appoint the commissioners. But a presidential monarchy (…) resembles the old regime, where the only rule is the will of the prince,” Mélenchon said in Brussels.
France is experiencing unprecedented political turmoil, with the name of the prime minister and the composition of the future government still unknown and important deadlines approaching in Brussels.
The new members of the European Parliament are expected to approve Ursula von der Leyen’s reappointment as President of the European Commission on Thursday, July 18. The 27 EU commissioners will then be appointed, one from each member state.
On June 27, Macron told his colleagues at the European Council that he wanted to reappoint current EU Internal Market Commissioner Thierry Breton from 2019.
But the legitimacy of the president’s choice of future European commissioners has been questioned by his political opponents since the National Assembly was dissolved on the night of the European elections on June 9.
“Emmanuel Macron does not think he can win, so he will not be able to appoint Mr Breton,” Marine Le Pen, leader of the National Rally (RN), told Cnews the day after the European Council.
She added: “It is the prime minister’s prerogative to appoint EU commissioners.”
At the time, polls predicted a landslide victory for the far right, and the National Front planned to install party president Jordan Bardella in Matignon (the official office building of the French prime minister) if the far right won an absolute majority in the National Assembly.
However, the French constitution does not specify who should appoint the commissioner, though the appointment is usually made by the president rather than the prime minister.
“Foreign policy is the exclusive domain of the president. It seems logical that he would want to take control of the appointment of EU commissioners,” Pascal Lamy, a former EU commissioner and director of the Jacques Delors Institute, told Euractiv.
Lamy concluded that, given that the current commissioner’s remit would be expanded, choosing Breton seemed more logical, even if “the final choice will depend on the new government.”
(Editing by Laurent Geslin/Rajnish Singh)
Read more by Euractiv
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