Thierry Breton stepped down as the EU commissioner for the internal market today, using his letter of resignation to criticize European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen’s leadership. The announcement came as a surprise, not least because von der Leyen was set to propose the slate of commissioners for her second term to the European Parliament tomorrow. (AP)
Our Take
It’s not often that political intrigue and maneuvering for influence at the European Union makes for headline news, but Breton’s resignation is noteworthy for a number of reasons. For one thing, he has been an activist member of von der Leyen’s self-described “geopolitical” European Commission, with a portfolio—the internal market—that has put him at the heart of the trade and tech issues driving a lot of global politics over the past five years.
In that capacity he has helped design and lead the union’s efforts to boost its defense industrial sector, impose anti-dumping tariffs against Chinese electric vehicles and regulate Big Tech and social media. As part of the latter initiative, he most recently engaged in a high-profile public confrontation with Elon Musk over disinformation spread on X, formerly Twitter.