France's nominee to become European Commissioner, Sylive Goulard, took a beating in the European Parliament. 89 committee members voted against her and only 29 in favour - ostensibly over ethical concerns for which she's being investigated.
ADVERTISEMENTFrance's nominee to become European Commissioner, Sylive Goulard, took a beating in the European Parliament.
89 committee members voted against her and only 29 in favour - ostensibly over ethical concerns for which she's being investigated.
French President Emmannuel Macron says she's been the victim of political games.
"I don't know, because now, I don't understand. I'm very relaxed. What matters to me is the portfolio. But I need to understand what was at play. Resentment. Pettiness maybe. But I need to understand.""
A now deleted tweet from the christian democrat political group, showed in faint writing in the background the suggestion that they were going to quote "kill her in the vote".
The suggestion is that they're torpeedoing Macron's candidate because he ended the system they wanted for the European Parliament's lead candidate in May's elections to become European Commission president.
"This is the first time that a French candidate has been rejected, and this is the first time a candidate from a founding country has been rejected. I think it's really an affront to Macron. It means that this a victory for the Parliament, that means that from now on we can accept only irreproachable people," Thierry Mariani (MEP France).
Commission president elect Ursula von der leyen will now wait for a new candidate to be proposed by France.
Hungary and Romania must also do the same after their candidates were rejected.
A rocky start for the new commission even before it's taken up it's mandate.