Sources say the Slovenian nominee will be given the transport portfolio and Šefčovič will become vice-president for energy union.
Jean-Claude Juncker, the president-elect of the European Commission, has accepted Slovenia’s nomination of Violeta Bulc to be its European commissioner.
According to officials, Juncker has decided to assign her the transport portfolio and to promote Maroš Šefčovič of Slovakia from transport commissioner to vice-president for energy union.
Juncker met Bulc Tuesday night in Brussels and told journalists after the meeting that she had left an “excellent” impression. He later issued a press release saying he had submitted an amended list of commissioner-designates, with her name added, to the Council of Ministers for approval.
The Council must now agree to the updated list by written procedure and publish its decision in the EU’s official journal. Juncker said he will only announce the portfolio he intends to give Bulc after the Council has given its assent. This could be done tomorrow morning with publication in the official journal tomorrow afternoon as long as there are no objections, according to Council sources.
Bulc, who is minister for development and regional policy and is a deputy prime minister, was put forward for the Commission job on Friday by her party leader and prime minister Miro Cerar after Alenka Bratušek had withdrawn her candidacy.
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European Voice: Juncker takes another gamble
The European Parliament will today (16 October) clear the way for a revised line-up of European commissioners to be approved next week in Strasbourg so that they can take up office on 1 November as initially planned.
Jean-Claude Juncker, the president-elect of the European Commission, yesterday submitted a limited re-shuffle of his line-up to the EU’s Council of Ministers, which waved it through. A revision was forced upon Juncker when Alenka Bratušek, Slovenia’s nominee, withdrew last Thursday (9 October) after MEPs had voted against her.
The nomination of Violeta Bulc as Slovenia’s replacement member of the college now appears uncontroversial because Juncker has downgraded her role from the post that he had earmarked for Bratušek – vice-president for energy union – to that of commissioner for transport.
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