France has nominated Pierre Moscovici, a former finance minister, as its next European commissioner. Moscovici’s appointment had been widely expected, with President François Hollande hoping that his man gets a senior economic portfolio.

France is pushing for the creation of a portfolio focused on growth and investment. Wolfgang Schäuble, Germany’s finance minister, is reported to oppose Moscovici taking on the monetary-affairs portfolio because of the French government’s reluctance to undertake structural reforms.

AFP, a news agency close to the government, reported today that Hollande would inform Jean-Claude Juncker, the Commission’s president-elect, of the appointment on Thursday (31 July). Juncker has given the member states until the end of the month to put forward names for the college of commissioners.

Click here for the nominees for the next college of commissioners.

The appointment deepens Juncker’s problem of maintaining the gender balance of the outgoing Commission, which includes nine female commissioners. Moscovici’s appointment brings to 15 the number of appointments to the next Commission, with just one woman – Vera Jourová from the Czech Republic.

Juncker has warned that a Commission with a worse gender balance than the Barroso II administration would face difficulties during confirmation by the European Parliament.

Juncker is scheduled to kick off a month of intense consultations with the member states in Athens on 4 August as he tries to assign portfolios to appointees. He has said that he will announce the composition of his Commission after a special European Council on 30 August that is supposed to appoint the EU’s next foreign-policy chief, who also serves as a Commission vice-president. Without that appointment, Juncker will not be in a position to finalise the distribution of portfolios.

Moscovici, from the ruling Socialist Party, was finance and economy minister from 2012 until a government reshuffle earlier this year. He also served as minister for Europe in 1997-2002 and was an MEP in 1994-97 and in 2004-07. He was a vice-president of the Parliament during the latter term.

Born in Paris, he turns 57 in September.

Click here to read European Voice’s profile of Pierre Moscovici.

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