Michael McGrath appointed European Commissioner for Justice – The Irish Times

Former finance minister Michael McGrath has been announced as the European Union’s next commissioner for justice and the rule of law.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Tuesday revealed the portfolios she has assigned to her team of commissioners, which are proposed by each EU country. The government is understood to have been informed in advance that Mr McGrath would be given the justice commissioner role.

The Justice Commissioner is responsible for leading the EU’s efforts to combat rule of law violations by member states, such as Hungary and previously Poland under its former populist government. The Commissioner is also responsible for enforcing legislation, such as the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). This position is currently held by Didier Reynders, a Belgian politician.

Dr von der Leyen spoke by phone to Taoiseach Simon Harris on Monday evening, as part of a series of calls to national capitals.

During the call, the German politician briefed the Fine Gael leader on the “emerging composition” of the commissioner team, as the decision-making process on the distribution of roles “reaches its final stages”, a government spokesman said.

Mr McGrath was tipped for the judgeship last week as Dr von der Leyen finalised the portfolios she planned to hand to each commissioner.

The government has consistently said it would push for Mr McGrath to get a finance portfolio. Ireland’s current European Commissioner, Mairead McGuinness, is responsible for financial services, so the judgeship would represent a lateral move.

Several factors worked against Ireland securing a major finance portfolio. The government ignored a request from Dr von der Leyen for countries to put forward two names, including at least one woman, so that she could put together a gender-balanced team of commissioners. All four Fianna Fáil MEPs also voted against Dr von der Leyen in a European Parliament vote that confirmed her reappointment as president of the EU executive for another five years.

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Mr McGrath resigned as finance minister at the end of June after the cabinet agreed to nominate him as Ireland’s candidate for the next European commissioner.

Mrs von der Leyen detailed the portfolios she has assigned to each commissioner on Tuesday morning, after informing the leaders of the European Parliament’s eight political groups at a meeting in Strasbourg.