The first female European Commission president with the first gender-balanced top team to match: German conservative Ursula von der Leyen was lauded as a trailblazer back in 2019 when she insisted on parity of men and women among the 27 European Commissioners.

Every member state was instructed to nominate one woman and one man, with von der Leyen then divvying out the powerful portfolios spanning everything from trade, foreign policy, the economy and the climate. A newbie in EU politics, capitals nonetheless obeyed her. After weeks of grappling and a grilling of candidates by the European Parliament, she pulled it off, with 13 women including herself and 14 men.

Five years on, and von der Leyen has been successfully reappointed for a second term at the head of the European Union's executive arm. Her orders to the other 26 countries — she herself represents Germany — were the same: gender parity, please.

But this time round, her request has been roundly ignored. The deadline she set for nominations has passed and, as of Monday, 17 EU states had put forward a man for the job and no female nominee. Belgium, Croatia, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Portugal, Romania, Spain and Sweden had nominated a woman, while Bulgaria had nominated a man and a woman.

Von der Leyen should start interviewing candidates and handing out jobs in the coming weeks, but she has been dealt........

© Deutsche Welle