Czech coalition will meet to agree on single candidate for Czech EU commissioner

Coalition leaders are to meet on Monday to try and reach agreement on who should be the next Czech EU commissioner. Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka has said he wants the ruling coalition to agree on a single nominee whose name he will put forward in Brussels later in the week. The three party-coalition has been deadlocked on the issue for weeks now. The prime minister’s Social Democrats are backing the former finance minister Pavel Mertlík, the ANO party has nominated Regional Development Minister Věra Jourová, while the Christian Democrats now support a high placed Czech official in Brussels Petr Bližovský. It is not yet clear what portfolio the Czech commissioner will be given.