THE ANNOUNCEMENT OF which portfolio Michael McGrath was offered in the new European Commission, set to be unveiled today, has been postponed until next week by the institution.

A spokesperson said yesterday that the delay is as a result of processes by the Slovenian Parliament, which has still yet to formally approve its Government’s nominee. 

Commission President Ursula von der Leyen is under pressure to get her new College of Commissioners organised and give relevant portfolios to those who have been nominated.

It’s understood that the Government is hopeful Ireland will retain some type of financial portfolio but von der Leyen’s decision has been classified to everyone but her small team of advisors. 

Today announcement was meant to present the new Commission to the most senior MEPs in the European Parliament in Brussels. This was to give the chairpeople of each political grouping time to decide whether their party will agree with her proposal.

MEPs will vote on whether to approve or reject the Commission President’s proposal in Strasbourg, France next week, but processes in Slovenia have delayed the process.

Yesterday, a spokesperson for the European Commission said that the Slovenian parliament had contacted the institution asking that von der Leyen delay her announcement so its politicians could formally approve the Government’s nominee.

Another spokesperson for the European Parliament confirmed the presentation was postponed until 17 September. The vote in Slovenia is due to take place on Friday.

The spokesperson added that amendments will be made to the agenda of next week’s formal sitting of the European Parliament to allow MEPs to debate their decision.

So far, it has been reported that only the Socialists and Democrats group, of which Dublin’s Labour MEP Aodhán Ó Ríordáin is a member of, are unhappy with the current nominees as only four members of its grouping have been named as candidates for roles.

It is still largely expected that MEPs will vote in favour of von der Leyen’s proposed Commission next week.

Parliamentary committees will then publicly interview the candidates, create a report based on their performance and vote again in November to confirm the new Commission.

Commissioners are set to begin in their new roles sometime in December, if all is approved.

However, von der Leyen is understood to be having a difficult time assigning some portfolios, particularly for the new Defence Commissioner role, and to also achieve a gender balance in her new College.

The Commission President made gender balance a crucial element of her new Commission, requesting that every member states nominate both a man and a woman in July.

Only one member state followed the request, as most Governments argued that the Commission President was overstepping her authority when making it under the EU treaties.

The Irish Government chose to nominate former finance minister Michael McGrath only, for the same reason as other member states and later added that naming a second candidate would be unfair to McGrath since he had to leave a role as a Cabinet minister.