Lobbying push from Irish officials amid speculation over Michael McGrath’s EU role

Michael McGrath has been in and out of the European Commission’s offices in the Berlaymont a number of times now, as he waits to find out what job he will be given as Ireland’s next EU commissioner.
A lobbying push from Government Buildings and Irish officials in Brussels has been stepped up over the last fortnight, to try to prevent Ireland ending up with a lightweight portfolio.
Commission president Ursula von der Leyen has been drafting and redrafting the list of what portfolio she plans to hand to each EU country. While concrete details of the German politician’s thinking have been kept tightly under wraps, speculation is centring around Mr McGrath potentially being in the frame to be commissioner for justice, or the commissioner for research and innovation.
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An announcement revealing the commissioner roles had been expected earlier this week, before it was pushed out to Tuesday next week. Now it seems that deadline will be moved again.
From the start, the Government said it was looking for a finance-related portfolio for Mr McGrath, given he is a former minister for finance, and before that minister for public expenditure.
Prominent jobs in that area would include commissioner for the economy, for trade, for the internal market, commissioner for competition, and the job overseeing the EU budget. Officials expect those would either all be out of reach or are already promised to other countries.
Commissioner for financial services, a more mid-ranking role held by Ireland’s outgoing commissioner, Mairead McGuinness, had been seen as a more realistic prospect.
Mr McGrath has been over and back to Brussels several times since July. The former Fianna Fáil minister has had meetings with many of the current crop of commissioners in the Berlaymont, as well as a sitdown with Dr von der Leyen at the end of last month.
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Ireland has been linked with the commissioner job covering research and innovation, which would be in the bottom half of the table of portfolios.
However, even for that there is competition. One Finnish official said Finland, which had previously been tipped for a role covering digital policy, now seemed to be angling for the commissioner for innovation job. Finland was also one of the few countries to put forward a woman, nominating Henna Virkkunen, a former minister and current MEP, as its pick.
Another possible role mentioned has been commissioner for justice, which is responsible for leading the EU’s efforts to tackle breaches of the rule of law by member states, such as Hungary. The widespread belief among the Brussels circuit of politicians, EU officials and diplomats is that everything can still change.
Privately, there is a recognition in Government Buildings that Ireland has not been in Dr von der Leyen’s good books of late.
[ Ireland may well be heading for EU commissioner job disappointmentOpens in new window ]
Dublin was among the first capitals to dismiss a request for member states to propose at least one woman nominee so the commission president could build a gender-balanced team of commissioners. Fianna Fáil’s four MEPs also voted against Dr von der Leyen in a European Parliament vote to confirm her reappointment for a second term.
Both Taoiseach Simon Harris and Tánaiste Micheál Martin have recently spoken to the commission president on the phone, making the case for Mr McGrath.
It is understood other Irish officials have also sought to intensify representations. The plan has been to pitch Mr McGrath as a safe choice and someone who can be trusted with a potentially sensitive portfolio, according to two officials involved in the lobbying effort.
The announcement of the commissioner appointments is being held up by a row in Slovenia. A spat over a late change in its nominee has led a parliamentary committee chaired by the opposition party to hold off on rubber-stamping the replacement. The delay will likely kick off a further round of last-minute lobbying, as each country tries to avoid losing any ground before Dr von der Leyen makes her final decision about who is getting what.