European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen is to promote Brussels’ “digital enforcer” Thierry Breton to the position of EC executive vice-president the German media claimed a leak has shown.
A report by Die Welt on September 3 claimed that von der Leyen would appoint four new executive vice-presidents to head up the new EC alongside her.
Breton is reportedly among those getting the nod, with the current Internal Market Commissioner to be handed a new Industry and Strategic Autonomy portfolio.
Serving alongside him will allegedly be Spain’s Teresa Ribera Rodriguez, who will be handed some form of “transition” portfolio, alongside the Netherlands’ Wopke Hoekstra, who will be responsible for trade, and Czechia’s Jozef Síkela, who will be put in charge of energy.
Currently serving as the Czech Government’s industry and trade minister, Síkela could be a particularly interesting appointment due to his affinity for nuclear power, especially considering von der Leyen’s recent U-turn on the subject.
A spokesman for the Commission declined an opportunity to comment on the leak.
Brussels has denied it had any involvement in a threatening open letter sent by Internal Market Commissioner Thierry Breton to X-owner Elon Musk. https://t.co/Z6aFSIPqDc
— Brussels Signal (@brusselssignal) August 14, 2024
Von der Leyen’s alleged decision to promote Breton is likely to raise eyebrows considering his recent behaviour.
He earned international condemnation in August after publicly threatening X-owner Elon Musk over his then-planned podcast with us presidential hopeful Donald Trump, warning the tech CEO that his social media platform could face legal consequences should he not censor the conversation according to EU law.
Breton’s outburst earned him an official reprimand from the US Congress, with the Republican chair of the House of Representatives Judiciary Committee, Jim Jordan, warning the Frenchman not to interfere in the US electoral process.
The Trump campaign also took the opportunity to blast the Liberal politician and the European Union as a whole, with one spokesman saying the bloc’s mandarins “should mind their own business instead of trying to meddle in the US presidential election”.
“Let us be very clear — the European Union is an enemy of free speech and has no authority of any kind to dictate how we campaign,” the spokesman said.
Former US President Donald Trump has blasted the European Union after a senior Brussels bureaucrat demanded his podcast interview with X owner Elon Musk be subjected to EU bureaucrat censorship. https://t.co/rbceAa2ign
— Brussels Signal (@brusselssignal) August 13, 2024
