The Commission chief will no longer meet Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) to discuss the formation of her new team on Wednesday as expected, parliamentary sources told Euronews.
ADVERTISEMENTUrsula von der Leyen has delayed the presentation of her new team of Commissioners and the policy areas they will helm until next week, three parliamentary sources confirmed on Tuesday.
The Commission chief was expected to meet the chairs of the European Parliament's political factions on Wednesday to discuss progress in putting together her 26-strong team of European Commissioners, tasked with steering the work of the EU's powerful executive for the next five years.
That meeting has now been postponed to 09.00 next Tuesday, signalling that the process of appointing the 'college' of Commissioners could take longer than expected.
The Commission and the Parliament say the delay is due to Slovenia's last-minute change in its nominee to former diplomat Marta Kos, which was announced by the government in Ljubljana on Monday but which needs to be ratified by the country's parliament.
Kos's nomination is expected to be confirmed by Friday.
Slovenia's change came after von der Leyen lobbied a handful of EU governments to replace their male nominations with women, as part of her push to ensure gender parity in her new team.
She has expressed exasperation at the lack of female nominees initially made by EU governments, saying that without her efforts only four women candidates would have been in the original running for one of the 26 coveted jobs.
All nominated candidates must undergo a grilling in parliamentary committees and survive a confirmation vote before they can be formally appointed.