(Bloomberg) -- European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen will interview Dutch Foreign Minister Wopke Hoekstra for a top job on the European Union’s executive body.
Hoekstra, 47, will meet von der Leyen on Tuesday after the Dutch government proposed him as a commissioner candidate, commission spokeswoman Dana Spinant said on the X social media platform.
If successful, Hoekstra would succeed Frans Timmermans who stepped down as vice president and climate chief to head the Left Alliance in the upcoming Dutch elections. Hoekstra’s appointment is subject to a hearing in the European Parliament. The Socialist and Democrat group, the second biggest political grouping in the parliament, called Hoekstra “controversial,” citing comments he made during the Covid-19 pandemic. Any nominee does not have the party’s support by default and needs to go through “serious and tough” hearings to prove their commitment to European values, the group said in a statement.
Hoekstra also holds the position of deputy prime minister of the Netherlands and has handled the finance portfolio in Prime Minister Mark Rutte’s third cabinet. His role “regularly concerns issues related to climate. It’s not like he never got involved in that,” Rutte told reporters after a cabinet meeting on Friday.Hoekstra wouldn’t automatically take over Timmermans’s portfolio if he joins the commission.
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