French Commissioner Thierry Breton has resigned from the European Commission.
The influential politician in charge of the Union's internal market said Commission President Ursula von der Leyen had pressured France, his home country, to put forward another candidate to replace him.
Breton made the announcement in a letter published this morning, which said he had become aware of this alleged lobbying "a few days ago" while Von der Leyen was putting the final touches to the new Commission.
The Frenchman was expected to be given a key portfolio in the upcoming Commission, and there was also talk of a vice-presidency.
"A few days ago, at the last moment of the negotiations on the composition of the future Commission, you asked France to withdraw my name - for personal reasons which in no case you discussed directly with me - and you proposed as a political compromise a supposedly more influential portfolio for France in the future College. You will now be offered another candidate," Breton wrote.
The Frenchman said he was "honoured" to have worked for the past five years as internal market commissioner "above national and party interests".
"However, in the light of these events - further evidence of questionable governance - I have come to the conclusion that I can no longer fulfil my duties at the Commission. I am therefore resigning as European Commissioner with immediate effect," he added. | BGNES
