UK Will Have to Nominate a Commissioner-Designate if it Stays in the EU after 1 November

Britain will have to nominate a Commissioner-designate if it stays in the EU after 1 November. This was confirmed today by a European Commission spokesman.

According to the spokesman, with every day when France, Romania and Hungary have not proposed new names for EU commissioners, meeting the initial deadlines for the next EC is becoming more difficult. The spokesman explained that the requirement of the newly elected EC President, Ursula von der Leyen, for at least two names for a state commissioner of the state was maintained.

"If the U.K. were to ask for an extension, and if that were granted, then according to the rules of the treaty, then yes, a commissioner would have to be appointed and that person would receive a portfolio," von der Leyen said.

The question of the expected three new nominations remains open after yesterday's talks with von der Leyen with French President Emmanuel Macron. The conversation was "good and constructive," the spokesman said. In his words, the open questions are part of a "three-dimensional puzzle." According to the spokesman, the complex internal political situation in Romania makes the task even more difficult.

The spokesman noted that von der Leyen was invited to a European Council meeting at the end of the week and would have the opportunity to speak with EU Heads of State or Government.