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The British Government has ruled out nominating a candidate for the next European Commission as required by the conditions of the last Brexit extension and the community treaties themselves, according to British sources in Brussels.

"We have written to the European Union to confirm that our pre-election guidelines indicate that the United Kingdom should not normally make appointments for international positions in this period," the sources said.

The Boris Johnson Government transmitted this message to the European institutions through a letter from its permanent representative in Brussels, Tim Barrow, a letter that has not been made public.

The letter states that the United Kingdom does not wish to thwart the normal functioning of the European Union and the formation of a new European Commission, but that its refusal to nominate a new candidate is due to British electoral regulations.

On the other hand, a community spokesman confirmed that the elected president of the new European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, received the letter from the British authorities in which they decline to nominate a commissioner in view of the national pre-election guidelines.

The legal services of the EU institutions will now evaluate the content of the letter and the options on the table.

It was planned that the new European Commission would have started on November 1, originally also on the first day of the United Kingdom outside the European Union after two extensions to Brexit.

For this reason, the Johnson Government had not nominated a candidate during the month of August (before the current election campaign) as did the rest of the countries, since it was expected to be outside the community club for November 1.

However, the European Parliament's rejection of candidates from France, Hungary and Romania delayed the formation of the new Commission, which will not begin until, as soon as, on December 1.

The rest of the Member States granted the most recent extension of Brexit until January 31, on condition that the United Kingdom complied with its obligations and sent a candidate to Brussels.

This requirement is also included in the European treaties , which indicate that the European Commission must be made up of one member for each country of the European Union.

After the official confirmation that the United Kingdom will not meet this requirement, Brussels must decide whether to proceed with the confirmation of the new Commission without the British candidate or demands a name from London.

It is not excluded that the new Commission is launched without a British commissioner but launching an infringement procedure against the British Government for breach of Community legislation

According to the criteria of The Trust Project

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  • United Kingdom
  • European Comission
  • Ursula von der Leyen
  • European Parliament
  • London

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