About two weeks after the failure of his EU Commission candidate Sylvie Goulard, French President Emmanuel Macron has nominated a new candidate. He proposes former French Minister of Economic Affairs Thierry Breton as EU Commissioner for Industry and the Internal Market.
Macron has sent the future EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen "the proposal for the appointment of Thierry Breton as a member of the European Commission," said the Élysée Palace. Breton is currently managing director of the French IT company Atos.
The former minister has "sound competences" that are relevant to the industry and the internal market, it was said. He was under Jacques Chirac 2005-2007 Minister of Economic Affairs and later director of large industrial companies, including Thomson, France Télécom and Atos.
He had "earned a reputation as a man of action," said the Élysée Palace on. As head of France Télécom, Breton was responsible for the company's extensive refurbishment and privatization.
Originally, former Defense Minister Sylvie Goulard was designated as the French candidate for the new EU Commission. However, it fell in the vote in the competent EU parliamentary committees. Against the 54-year-old investigations are underway in an affair about fake employment. Macron blamed the Leyen for the debacle. She insisted on the personality, the president said. Macron continued to claim its industry and home market.
Because of the Goulard debacle and the rejection of the Commission candidates from Hungary and Romania, the new EU Commission took office one month later than December 1st.
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