French European Commissioner Thierry Breton on Monday said he would step down as a member of the EU executive body over a rift with Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, alleging that she had asked Paris to withdraw his candidacy.
European Commissioner for Internal Market Thierry Breton, Reuters/Yves Herman
French European Commissioner Thierry Breton on Monday said he would step down as a member of the EU executive body over a rift with Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, alleging that she had asked Paris to withdraw his candidacy.
Von der Leyen is finalising her list of commissioners for her second term leading the governing body, due to be presented to the public this week.
Breton, a former business executive, was the EU's industry and internal market commissioner during her first term, overseeing many of the bloc's most important policies, ranging from industrial arms production to regulating Big Tech.
In his resignation letter, which Breton posted on X, he said von der Leyen "a few days ago" had asked France to withdraw his name as its pick for the Commission "for personal reasons" in return for an "allegedly more influential portfolio".
Reuters was unable to immediately verify the allegation. Von der Leyen's office did not immediately reply to a request for comment.
"In light of these latest developments - further testimony to questionable governance - I have to conclude that I can no longer exercise my duties in the College," Breton said in the letter.
Each EU member state will have one seat at the Commission's table, although their political weight and importance varies greatly depending on the portfolio.
The French presidency did not immediately reply to a Reuters request for comment.
Reporting by Tassilo Hummel
The U.S. and China said on Monday they agreed to temporarily slash their steep tariffs on each other, sending global stocks and the U.S. dollar surging as the world's top two economies tapped the brakes on a trade war that had fed fears of a global recession.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Sunday reported "substantial progress" in U.S. talks with China's top economic officials to de-escalate a damaging trade war, but offered no details of an agreement reached as two days of negotiations wrapped up in Geneva.
India and Pakistan agreed to a ceasefire on Saturday after a fourth day of strikes and counter-strikes against each other's military installations.
To make this website run properly and to improve your experience, we use cookies. For more detailed information, please check our Cookie Policy.
Necessary cookies enable core functionality. The website cannot function properly without these cookies, and can only be disabled by changing your browser preferences.
Analytics cookies help us to improve our website by collecting and reporting information on its usage.
We use marketing cookies to help us improve the relevancy of advertising campaigns you receive.