French EU commissioner quits after clash with von der Leyen

France's Thierry Breton on Monday said he was leaving the European Commission with immediate effect, citing discord with the European Union commission's chief Ursula von der Leyen.

Breton said von der Leyen had asked Paris to withdraw his candidacy for the next executive. France will instead propose Foreign Minister Stephane Sejourne for the position, French President Emmanuel Macron's office said, adding that he "meets all the necessary criteria."

What we know about the resignation

Macron had proposed Breton for France's spot on the incoming commission.

That would have meant his reappointment to a major role reflecting France's weight within the 27-nation EU. Until the latest development, this had been taken as a formality.
"A few days ago, in the very final stretch of negotiations on the composition of the future College, you asked France to withdraw my name," Breton, the bloc's internal market commissioner, wrote in a letter to von der Leyen.

"I am therefore resigning from my position as European Commissioner, effective immediately," he said in the letter, a copy of which he posted on X, formerly Twitter.

Breton is understood to have had a strained relationship with his EU boss, who oversees the 27-member College of Commissioners.

He said von der Leyen's request to Paris was made "for personal reasons that in no instance you have discussed directly with me."

Thierry also alleged that von der Leyen had offered Paris an incentive to withdraw his name. He said she had "offered, as a political trade-off, an allegedly more influential portfolio for France in the future College."

"You will now be proposed a different candidate," he said.

"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 wrote.

Counterweight to German influence?

Among the most influential figures on the Commission, the 69-year-old Breton has overseen the internal market brief since 2019 — taking a hard line against abuses by some of the world's biggest digital platforms.

The portfolio also included space and defense as well as marshaling COVID-19 vaccine production.

Paris is understood to see Breton as a counterweight to Berlin's influence in Brussels, von der Leyen coming from Germany's conservative opposition Christian Democrats. 

"Over the past five years, I have relentlessly striven to uphold and advance the common European good, above national and party interests," Breton wrote in the letter "It has been an honor."

Breton served as France's economy minister from 2005 to 2007. He was credited for driving the privatization of a struggling France Telecom, of which he was CEO, and headed the multinational IT firm Atos before he joined the Commission.

rc/rmt (AFP, Reuters)