IRELAND’S OUTGOING EUROPEAN Commissioner Mairead McGuinness has warned the Government about the “bigger picture” that’s at play in its one-candidate strategy for the European Commissioner nomination.

German politician Ursula von der Leyen this week was re-elected as the President of the European Commission and stated that she will again be seeking that the member states propose a male and female candidate for the Commissioner role.

However, the Irish Government are against the idea. Von der Leyen, who is the first female Commission President, said her aim is to create an equal gender balance in her College of Commissioners in Brussels.

Fianna Fáil were the party who were to propose a candidate to this new commission and nominated former finance minister Michael McGrath for the role, with hopes McGuinness’ financial portfolio would be given to him.

Party leader and Tánaiste Micheál Martin believes von der Leyen’s proposal infringes on the country’s rights to a Commissioner, as is laid out in the EU treaties, and the decision not to send a female candidate has been supported by Taoiseach Simon Harris.

However, speaking to RTÉ Radio One’s This Week today, McGuinness, who replaced Phil Hogan in the Commission in 2020 after the ‘Golfgate’ scandal, said that not sending a female Commissioner may send the wrong message to the EU about Ireland.

She also warned that Government could be seen as “backsliding” on its commitments to equality. The European institutions have a range of plans, set by the Commission, to improve equality in the EU and their progress is monitored by MEPs.

“If I was still a member of [the European] Parliament, I would be watching,” she said. “If there was only one or two women [proposed] I don’t think that’s good enough. I think we do need more,” she said.

The first von der Leyen Commission had the highest number of female Commissioners in the college, 12, but that was still less than half of the make up.

In its recent nominations, the EU leaders have selected two women, von der Leyen and Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas, to be the top-EU diplomats. It will be the first time that both roles are held by women at the same time.

McGuinness said that there is “no doubt” that McGrath is a good candidate for the role and respects that it is a decision for Government to make. But when asked if the one-candidate strategy was “simply wrong”, the Commissioner said Government had to look at the bigger picture.

McGuinness pointed to the fact that Ursula von der Leyen was the first woman to be President of the Commission and that in the 50 years that Ireland has been a member of the EU, only Maura Geoghegan-Quinn was directly nominated by Government.

She said that the only time two names were put forward to the Commission by Ireland was when the Government was looking to replace Hogan, when she was proposed alongside former financial advisor to Enda Kenny, Andrew McDowell. 

“What I think will be important for the European Parliament is that there is no backsliding on the commitment. Not to have 50-50 but, perhaps, not to ignore the fact that for the first time we have visibility of women at the highest level in the European institutions,” she said.