Brussels 25.07.2024 The European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen has started a process of selection of candidates for the next College during her second mandate.

Today von der Leyen on issued letters requesting member-states to put forward their candidates by the end of the week to be able to start interviews in August, according to the EU officials, adding that the deadline date falls on August 30. However among a number of criteria – demographic, political affiliation, balance between north and south, etc, – promised gender parity remains a conundrum.

The same way as during her first term von der Leyen called governments to propose a couple of candidates: a man and a woman to ensure gender balance in her new College of 26 Commissioners.

“I want to choose the best who share the European commitment and, in terms of numbers, there will be parity between men and women,” von der Leyen said in Strasbourg parliament after approval of her candidacy for the second mandate.

However the first applications have displayed little interest in attaining parity. The Czech Republic, Finland, Latvia, Ireland, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, Slovenia, and Slovakia proposed only one candidate, dodging the entire idea of gender equality.