France will nominate Sylvie Goulard, a close ally of French President Emmanuel Macron, as its next European commissioner, several senior French officials have told Politico.
Currently deputy governor at the French central bank, Goulard is known for her expertise in economics and European affairs but will likely face scrutiny over alleged misuse of EU funds by her party during her time in the European Parliament.
A former adviser to Romano Prodi, the ex-Commission president, Goulard was an MEP for the liberal ALDE group from 2009 to 2017 and served as a rapporteur on many high profile economic files including eurozone governance. She is one of the most ardent promoters of Franco-German ties and one the few French politicians who can speak German and Italian.
In 2017, Macron appointed her defense minister but she resigned a month later, following a legal investigation into whether she used assistants inappropriately during her time as an MEP. She has not yet been cleared of these suspicions, and many officials believe those could complicate her nomination hearings in the European Parliament in October.
If Goulard secures the support of Commission President-elect Ursula von der Leyen and the European Parliament, she will replace Pierre Moscovici — the current European commissioner for economic and financial affairs, taxation and customs — as the French commissioner.
Though it is not yet clear what portfolio she would get, French officials say the government wants an economic job.