2019-08-26 19:11 update: 2019-08-30, 08:35
Photo: PAP/Radek Pietruszka
Polish official candidate for EU commissioner Krzysztof Szczerski said on Monday he had withdrawn his candidacy after he was proposed the agriculture commissioner job in the new European Commission led by Ursula von der Leyen.
Szczerski said he had also suggested Janusz Wojciechowski to take his place, but added the final decision was up to Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki.
On July 25, Morawiecki put forward Szczerski, chief aide to Polish President Andrzej Duda, as the EU commissioner candidate at a meeting with von der Leyen, the European Commission president-elect, who is currently setting up her team of commissioners.
In a conversation with PAP, Szczerski said that he had not been involved with agriculture before, adding that "it is fair to hand over this job to someone who can do it in a responsible manner."
Szczerski said he had already informed Morawiecki and Duda, as well as Jaroslaw Kaczynski, the ruling party leader, of his decision.
Wojciechowski was the head of Poland's Supreme Audit Office in 1995-2001, a member of the European Parliament in 1999-2016, where he also sat on the agriculture committee, and has been auditor in the European Court of Auditors in the 2016-2022 term.
In July, Morawiecki said that Poland was especially interested in posts related to economic affairs and broadly-perceived infrastructure.
Later on Monday, government spokesman Piotr Muller said Wojciechowski was Poland's new candidate for EU commissioner.
"These arrangements have been made today and this candidacy will be presented to the European Commission (president-elect)," Muller said.
The spokesman also said the agriculture portfolio would be "a good decision for Poland." "All the agricultural issues are very important to us and the EU budget in this area is very high at the EU level as a whole," he added.
The College of Commissioners is composed of the president of the Commission, its six vice-presidents, including the first vice-president, the high representative of the EU for foreign affairs and security policy, and 21 commissioners, each responsible for a portfolio.
Each candidate for a Commission portfolio has to go through a parliamentary vetting process. The Council, in agreement with the Commission president-elect, adopts a list of candidate commissioners, one for each member state. These commissioners-designate appear before parliamentary committees in their prospective fields of responsibility. Each committee then meets to draw up its evaluation of the candidate's expertise and performance, which is sent to the president of the Parliament.
The full Commission, including the Commission president and the high representative for foreign affairs and security policy, then needs to be approved in a single vote of consent by Parliament. After the president and commissioners have been approved by Parliament, they are formally appointed by the Council, acting by a qualified majority. (PAP)
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