Two weeks after the rejection by the MEPs of the candidacy of Sylvie Goulard, Emmanuel Macron proposed Thierry Breton, 64, current CEO of the group Atos and former Minister of the Economy [under Jacques Chirac, from 2005 to 2007], as new French member at the European Commission, announced the Elysee, Thursday, October 24.

"The President of the Republic has conveyed to Ursula von der Leyen, President-elect of the European Commission, his proposal to appoint Thierry Breton as a member of the European Commission," said the presidency.

The main challenge for Paris, the vast portfolio obtained for the French Commissioner - industrial policy, internal market, digital, defense and space - will remain unchanged. Emmanuel Macron has obtained the assurance of Ursula von der Leyen, said the Elysee.

"What matters to me is the wallet! I fought for a wallet," exclaimed the Head of State, learning with annoyance the eviction of Sylvie Goulard on October 10, lived as a snub inflicted by the European Parliament.

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"A reputation as a man of action"

The future President of the Commission has already approved her new choice. Emmanuel Macron and Ursula von der Leyen "have agreed on this profile after a discussion upstream.If we propose this candidate, it is appropriate," said the Elysee. With his career that mixes public, private and political, as well as his knowledge of the industry, this friend Jacques Chirac ticks many boxes.

"Thierry Breton has strong skills in the areas covered by this portfolio, especially industry and digital, because he was Minister of the Economy, with supervision over the industry.He was also head of major industrial groups and the defense sector [Thomson, France Telecom, Atos] and enjoys a solid reputation as a man of action ", argues the Presidency.

It is he who, called at the head of France Telecom heavily indebted, had recovered the group by reducing its costs and had led to its privatization. He is also Macron-compatible, "aligned" with the positions of the head of state. He had rallied to his candidacy before the first round, after the withdrawal of Alain Juppé.

"A convinced European"

"He is also a convinced European, who has led many Franco-German projects," adds the Elysee, especially at the head of Atos, which has one seat in France and one in Munich. Thierry Breton is a strong advocate for the development in Europe of supercomputers capable of competing with China and the United States.

As a bonus, he knows Ursula von der Leyen, with whom he worked when she was German Defense Minister, on the creation of a European Defense and Security Fund, to boost European investment in these areas. Finally, he is a former elected official, who was a regional councilor from Poitou-Charentes from 1988 to 1992.

To give time to France, but also to Romania and Hungary, whose candidates for the Commission were also rejected, to propose new names, the new Commission's inauguration was postponed for a month, December 1st.

Emmanuel Macron did not wait until the last moment to decide, after having passed numerous names in review: from the Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier to his adviser Europe Clement Beaune, through the Minister of Armies Florence Parly, the chief economist of OECD, Laurence Boone or ECB Executive Board member Benoît Cœuré. Parity obliges, the Éysée would have preferred a woman, but affirms not to have found the adequate profile.

A risk of conflict of interest?

On the other hand, choosing a big boss as a candidate for the Commission increases the risk of conflicts of interest. Especially since the Atos group is an IT service provider of the European Union. Thierry Breton had already had to answer many conflict of interest questions when he was appointed to Bercy, after leading France Telecom and Thomson. He had then made sure that the files affecting these companies were treated directly by the Prime Minister.

"Mr. Breton has always been rigorous to avoid any conflict of interest," when he was a minister deporting on issues that may affect him, ensures the Elysee. By the end of November, the candidate must convince MEPs who are particularly concerned about transparency.

He will first have to go before the Parliamentary Committee on Legal Affairs, which is responsible for deciding on the possible conflicts of interest of the future commissioners, who has already ousted the Hungarian Laszlo Trocsanyi and the Romanian Rovana Plumb. Then he will be subjected, as before him Sylvie Goulard, to the hearing of the MEPs who must give their approval.

With AFP