With Belgium nominating foreign minister Hadja Lahbib, we now know the 27 senior officials likely to lead the EU executive for the next five years. Euronews takes a peek behind the CVs.
ADVERTISEMENTFrom MEPs to former prime ministers, academics to journalists, we now know the 26 lieutenants likely to serve under Ursula von der Leyen as European Commissioners.
Von der Leyen has been re-elected for a second term in office as Commission President — and EU member states were given until last Friday to propose their candidate to lead the EU executive with her.
Belgium, in political turmoil after the June elections, was the last hold-out, on 2 September proposing foreign minister Hadja Lahbib.
We still don't know who von der Leyen will select for Bulgaria — which, in line with her request, put forward both a man and a woman. She may also push back on some of the male choices to achieve gender balance, as she appears to have done in rejecting Romania's Victor Negrescu.
While many are former politicians, there's also an eclectic mix of backgrounds among the prospective Commissioners — starting from the top with von der Leyen, who previously trained as a gynaecologist.
Lahbib will be one of three former foreign ministers set to serve on the college of Commissioners, which also includes three former prime ministers, five ex-finance ministers, and eleven former MEPs.
The roster also includes journalists from Belgium and Finland, academics from Cyprus and Croatia, and career diplomats from Hungary, Slovakia and Poland.
Once the final list is known in mid-September, they’ll be assigned portfolios and submit themselves for confirmation from the European Parliament.
That might prove tricky – not least those who don’t seem to have much experience (waves at Malta’s 35-year-old Glenn Micaleff) — or still worse for those previously caught calling MEPs “idiots”. (Take a bow, Hungary’s Olivér Várhelyi).
But those who do make it through will be in charge of key issues, ranging from protecting the environment to supporting Ukraine.
Click on each of the candidates to look behind the CVs at the personalities who'll shape EU policy in the years to come.
Jack Schickler, Marta Iraola Iribarren, Cynthia Kroet, Paula Soler, Robert Hodgson, Marta Pacheco, Jorge Liboreiro, Fatih Yetim and Mared Gwyn Jones contributed to this story.