The new European Commission is expected to be announced in September and take office later this year.

The European Commission president’s proposal for the composition of her new College of Commissioners is due to be made public in mid-September, following country nominations and interviews with the person in charge, with a view to taking office by the end of the year.

A few days before the deadline for European Union (EU) member states to submit their candidates – ideally two (one man and one woman) – for the post of European Commissioner for the next term (2024-2029), five countries out of 27 have yet to announce their choice and communicate it to Brussels: Portugal, Belgium, Bulgaria, Italy and Denmark.

However, according to European sources consulted by Lusa, the intention of the reappointed leader of the Community Executive, Ursula von der Leyen, is to present her team in mid-September, having already begun interviews with some of the proposed names.

Although the official deadline is August 30, next Friday, according to the same sources, name proposals will be accepted by von der Leyen until the beginning of September.

The European Parliament is scheduled to hold public hearings on the names proposed for new European Commissioners between September and October, with the European Assembly giving final approval in plenary session so that the new European Commission can take office later.

If all the proposed names were to receive an immediate green light from the European Parliament, the new College of Commissioners could take office on 1 November, but if rejected, that deadline would jump to 1 December, given the time the country needs to propose a new name and for that candidate to be interviewed by Ursula von der Leyen and heard at a hearing in the European Assembly.

Therefore, European sources consulted by Lusa hope that the inauguration will take place by the end of this year.

As for its executive team, the President of the European Commission is responsible for the selection and allocation of the various portfolios, taking into account the geographical size of the country, the skills of the candidates and their preferences following the appointments made by the countries.

The request for countries to submit names was made in letters sent in late July by the President of the European Commission to EU heads of government and state, in which the person in charge defended a “gender-balanced College of Commissioners”.

Ursula von der Leyen was re-elected as President of the European Commission for another five years in July last year.

The centre-right German politician has served as Commission President since December 2019, becoming the first woman to hold the post, and was the candidate leading the European People’s Party’s list in the European elections in June.

Following her re-election to the European Parliament, the person in charge made it clear that she would now focus on forming her team of commissioners, starting interviews in mid-August “to select the best-prepared candidates who share European commitments.”

“My goal will once again be to achieve an equal proportion of men and women on the board of commissioners,” he said then.