Ireland will start lobbying for a senior European Commission portfolio, likely an economic one, as soon as the new president of the commission is elected.
EU leaders look set to nominate Ursula von der Leyen for another term as they gathered for the first time since the European elections.
A consensus on the top jobs emerged early on in proceedings following the results of the European elections, where the European People’s Party [EPP] emerged the largest group with over 190 seats of the 720 seat parliament.
Ms von der Leyen is the lead candidate of the European People’s Party — the group of which Fine Gael is also a member.
“I’m sure it’ll be quick and fast. All discussions that I have had in recent weeks and months have been aimed at finding a constructive solution quickly”, German chancellor Olaf Scholz said.
“We need to be very careful who will represent the European Union and the European Commission at the international level. We have to discuss not to make even more tension that it is in reality,” Slovak president Peter Pellegrini said.
“We’ll bring forward shortly the name of the person we hope to be the next Irish commissioner,” Taoiseach Simon Harris said.
“There are a number of portfolios that Ireland has an active interest in and can play an important role in,” he told journalists in Brussels.
“We’ll then have a discussion with the next president of the European Commission around portfolios we may have an interest in,” he said.
Government sources say Dublin will seek an economic position.
Mr Harris confirmed that he “fully respects” the fact that the nominee will come from Fianna Fáil, but said the candidate would also have to be approved by Cabinet.
“It’s important that we put forward people of high calibre. We have a proud tradition of sending people to be good commissioners, and that makes a difference in terms of the influence and portfolios you can have,” he said.
Mr Harris also hinted that the Government won’t be influenced by any demand to nominate a woman to the post.
When Phil Hogan stepped down from his post as European commissioner for trade, Ms Von der Leyen made it clear she wanted a female candidate.
“I’ve mixed views on that — I take gender equality and gender balance very seriously, but I’m always aware of the treaties and it is a matter for member states to decide who’ll they put forward and we’ll do that as a Government in due course,” he said.
The names of newly re-elected MEP for Fianna Fáil Barry Andrews and Finance Minister Michael McGrath are tipped as possible successors to commissioner Mairead McGuinness.
The other two senior posts of president of the European Council — the institution where the governments of the member states sit — and the high representative on foreign policy are also likely to go to former Portuguese prime minister Antonio Costa and Estonian prime minister Kaja Kallas respectively.
In addition, Mr Costa is the representative of the Socialists grouping (where Labour will sit), which came second in the elections. Ms Kallas is the likely nominee for the Liberal Renew groups (Fianna Fáil) which is currently in third place.
Leaders met late into the evening on Monday in private to “take stock” of the election results, with some countries showing a rise for far-right parties — in particular in France, Germany, the Netherlands, and Austria.
The spectre of a hard-right assembly in France also loomed large after French president Emmanuel Macron announced snap elections when the victory for the far-right in the European election became clear last week.
No formal decision was expected, and few countries came out in full endorsement of the trio, with some privately expressing concern about recent allegations of corruption by Mr Costa while in government.
Meanwhile, Mr Harris described as “pitiful” a statement by Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu who announced the building of more illegal settlements on Palestinian lands as a response to Ireland, Spain, Slovenia, and Norway recognising Palestine.
He said: “It’s kind of pitiful isn’t it, I mean the reality is there have been illegal settlements in the West Bank now for a significant period of time.
“The Irish Government, on behalf of the Irish people, and moving with the governments of Spain [and] Norway made a decision to recognize the states of Palestine because we believe in a two-state solution.
“We believe that in order to do that, you have to recognise the existence both states.
“We want the Palestinian people and the Israeli people to live side by side in peace and security, and I believe there’s many people in both sides that want that for their children and their grandchildren.
“Anything else from Mr Netanyahu is simply a distraction; it is noise; what it doesn’t do is end the war, end the humanitarian catastrophe.”