The leadership of the European Council by the Portuguese António Costa should not mean giving Portugal a smaller portfolio in the next European Commission, to which Brussels would prefer Lisbon to appoint a woman.
Just 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), Portugal is one of five countries out of 27 that have yet to announce their choice and communicate it to Brussels.
European sources involved in the process told Lusa that Luis Montenegro’s government has, however, contacted the leader of the community’s executive, Ursula von der Leyen, who even hopes that the country will be able to name a woman, given its priority on gender equality, which is currently not fully respected by the proposed candidate countries.