Would-be commissioners set for December hearing

Bulgaria and Romania will each have a European commissioner when they join the EU bringing the number of EU states and the number of commissioners to 27. According to the Nice treaty, it is only the next Commission team, appointed after the two countries accession, which will have fewer members than there are member states.

The governments of Romania and Bulgaria are expected to nominate candidates for these posts shortly, in agreement with the President of the European Commission, José Manuel Barroso.

After Barroso decides on the portfolio that each nominee commissioner should have, the European Parliament will organise hearings to test the credentials of the nominees. MEPs will then vote on the enlarged Commission, probably during the December session (11-14 December). The Council of Ministers will vote on the candidates approved by Parliament before the end of the year.

Barroso said in Strasbourg on Tuesday (26 September) that it was too early to speculate on what portfolios the Bulgarian and Romanian commissioners might get, or on the candidates likely to be put forward by Sofia and Bucharest. He expressed his wish that at least one of the new commissioners would be a woman as he is keen on ensuring a gender balance in his Commission. Seven out of the current 25 members of the Commission are female.

Most potential candidates from both Bulgaria and Romania are women. For Bulgaria, Meglena Kuneva, the European affairs minister, is the likeliest contender for the job. A law graduate and former journalist, Kuneva has been Europe minister and deputy foreign affairs minister since 2001. She was also her country’s chief negotiator with the EU and was a member of the convention which drafted the EU constitution.

The leading contenders from Romania are Monica Macovei, the justice minister, Anca Boagiu, European affairs minister, Lazar Comanescu, ambassador to the EU, and the state secretary supervising the enforcement of the acquis communautaire, Cristian David.

Macovei is widely credited with making dramatic improvements to her country’s chances of joining the EU on time. Justice minister since December 2004, she pushed through tough reforms to tackle corruption and reform the justice system. She is a qualified lawyer and prosecutor with a background of working for non-governmental organisations and human rights and minority rights groups.

Boagiu, who trained as an engineer, has been minister for European affairs since August 2005. She was a member of the Romanian parliament in 2000-04.

Comanescu, a career diplomat, has been Romania’s ambassador to the EU since 2001. Before that, he was his country’s representative to both the EU and NATO and state secretary in the foreign affairs ministry.

Cristian David, an economist with academic experience, was a national Liberal Party councillor before being appointed to his current job.

Barroso said what portfolios the two new commissioners would get depended on the profile of the candidates the Bulgarian and Romanian governments put forward. But Commission officials believe he will carve out two new posts by splitting development and humanitarian aid, currently under Belgian commissioner Louis Michel, and health and consumer protection, Cypriot Markos Kyprianou’s portfolio.

The president of the Commission does not intend to do a more substantial reshuffle of portfolios within his team because this might embolden the European Parliament to organise a new vote of investiture on the Commission.

Bulgaria and Romania will each have a European commissioner when they join the EU bringing the number of EU states and the number of commissioners to 27. According to the Nice treaty, it is only the next Commission team, appointed after the two countries accession, which will have fewer members than there are member states.

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