Breton and an inconvenient delay, Newsletter

This week’s key events presented by Euronews’ editor in chief for EU policy, Jeremy Fleming-Jones.

Tuesday 17 September: Commission President von der Leyen to meet group leaders of European Parliament (EP) during Strasbourg plenary; Mario Draghi to present his competitiveness report to the plenary.
Wednesday 18 September: Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán expected to appear before the EP plenary to present the agenda of his country’s six-month EU Council presidency.
Thursday 19 September: European Court of Justice to issue decision on appeal against upholding of a European Central Bank decision to refuse to authorise Silvio Berlusconi’s acquisition of a qualifying stake in Banca Mediolanum, due to his failure to meet the reputational criterion following his 2013 conviction for tax fraud.
The unexpected resignation of French Commissioner Thierry Breton today (16 September) has piled further complication into Ursula von der Leyen’s attempts to compose and unveil portfolios for her new executive.
Internal Market Commissioner Breton claimed von der Leyen pressured his native France to submit another candidate to replace him in a letter sent this morning.
When von der Leyen put the planned unveiling of her new Commission on ice last week, the reason given for the delay then was met with some scepticism.
Slovenia’s eleventh hour change of Commissioner nominees – which saw Marta Kos replace Tomaž Vesel – meant Kos required formal adoption by her domestic government following a parliamentary committee hearing – fixed for last Friday (13 September) the EU executive said.
The delay would also give von der Leyen a convenient breathing space to resolve the distribution of portfolios.
A leaked document reported by Euronews suggesting that her own political family was likely to enjoy the lion’s share of the top positions was already rattling the left wing in the Parliament, which Euronews reported fired a warning over the German president in response.
By the end of the week delay to the formal nomination of Kos appeared less convenient, as Ljubljana’s last-minute change of choice had ignited a row between PM Robert Golob and the opposition Slovenian Democratic Party (SDS).
Friday’s hearing of the Slovenian National Assembly’s parliamentary committee on Kos’ nomination was delayed as committee chair Franc Breznik sought more details about the pressure the government put on Vesel to step down.
Meanwhile the head of the SDS’ European Parliament delegation Romana Tomc told Euronews that Marta Kos was not an acceptable choice for the European People’s Party – to which SDS belongs – citing experience and alleged links to the former Yugoslav secret police.
Kos hit back at the charges, though the formal acceptance of her nomination is a factor that may continue hold up von der Leyen’s formal unveiling of the Commission portfolios, added to which France must now renominate a replacement for Breton. 
Von der Leyen might yet attempt to unveil her Commission gradually however, by describing the jobs she intends to create, before pinning names to them. But there is a whiff of crisis to the backdrop against which she must now do so.
The political spat within Slovenia may appear to be a local dispute, but it feeds into a more existential challenge to von der Leyen’s vision.
Slovenia’s opposition SDS is the party of former Slovenian Pirme Minister Janez Janša, an old ally of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban.
Orban remains the main antagonist for von der Leyen as she attempts to assemble a ‘pro-European, pro-Ukrainian’ executive, and is himself scheduled to appear before the Parliament in Strasbourg this week, though that might also be subject to delay as a rsult of the weekend’s catastrophic flooding.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán – lauded last week by US presidential hopeful Donald Trump as “tough”, “smart” and “one of the most respected men” – was scheduled to speak in the European Parliament this Wednesday (18 September) to present the agenda of his country’s six-month EU Council presidency. A European People’s Party (EPP) source confirmed to Euronews that the group intended to make sure Péter Magyar, the leader of Hungary’s Respect and Freedom (Tisza) Party, an EPP member, is given the floor after Orbán’s opening speech. Buoyed by a recent poll showing domestic support for his, just four points behind Fidesz, Magyar might have been looking forward to exchange, though he has now asked Parliament President Roberta Metsola to defer the event, in light of the weekend’s catastrophic floods affecting central Europe. That call for a delay was endorsed over the weekend by EPP head Manfred Weber.