President Francois Hollande formally proposed his former finance minister Pierre Moscovici on Tuesday to be France's representative in the next European Commission which takes office later this year, reports Reuters.
In a letter to the Commission's president-elect, Jean-Claude Juncker, Hollande did not say which job he wanted Moscovici to get, but French officials have made no secret that Paris is angling for a major economic portfolio.
Each of the 28 nations of the European Union has a commissioner and they must nominate their candidates by the end of July. The Commission, the EU's executive body, proposes and enforces laws affecting the bloc's 500 million citizens.
Juncker, a former Luxembourg prime minister, will then decide who gets which portfolio, with the economics, internal market, competition, trade and energy jobs particularly coveted.
"In light of both his personal qualities and his experience, Pierre Moscovici has shown his general competence and European commitment that will allow him to take on important responsibilities in an independent way," Hollande said in his letter, a copy of which was obtained by Reuters.
Germany, the EU's biggest economy, has voiced reservations about handing the powerful economic and monetary affairs job to France, given its difficulty in respecting the bloc's deficit limits, though German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble has said he has nothing against Moscovici.
Read more of this report from Reuters.