The head of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen has named her team, which will lead the EU’s most powerful institution for the next five years. While the number of women falls short of the gender parity she aimed for, they’ve been handed the lion’s share of top roles.
There are 11 women on the 27-member Commission team von der Leyen proposed on Tuesday, well short of the gender balance she targeted.
She said the imbalance was even worse – just 22 percent women – before she negotiated with member states for them to propose more women for the jobs.
While in a minority, women will nevertheless occupy six of the eight top positions in the new team.
Estonia‘s ex-premier Kaja Kallas has been named foreign policy chief and Spain’s Energy and Environment Minister Teresa Ribera will lead the green transition as well as becoming the competition and anti-trust czar.
Three other women were also named as vice-presidents.
Push for gender equality stalls as men dominate nominations for EU commission
Security and competitiveness
The European Commission has the power to propose new EU laws, block mergers between companies and sign free trade deals.
France’s outgoing Foreign Minister Stephane Sejourne replaces Thierry Breton in charge of industrial strategy.
(with newswires)
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