Although the EU legislature cannot block individual candidates, it can reject the entire 27-member Commission, the body responsible for drafting and enforcing EU rules. Lawmakers said a vote to approve the Commission set for January 26 would be postponed until February 9 as a result of Jeleva's withdrawal, but the line-up is now more likely to be approved.
"I ask you to accept my resignation from all positions I hold so that you can do the necessary to withdraw my nomination as Bulgaria's European commissioner," Jeleva wrote in her letter to Borisov, published by Bulgaria's foreign ministry. "I have no hope of getting an impartial and objective assessment (from parliament's development committee) and I am giving Mr Borisov the chance to propose a new candidate." Borisov confirmed that he had withdrawn her nomination for the Brussels post but said he had rejected her resignation as foreign minister and wanted her to stay on.
Her withdrawal is a blow to the reputation of the EU's poorest member state, which has faced strong pressure from Brussels to tackle corruption and organised crime since it joined the bloc in 2007. Pressure on Jeleva to be withdrawn grew almost immediately after her hearing for humanitarian aid commissioner last week. The Socialists and Greens said they had concerns about her qualifications and her business background in Bulgaria.
To replace Jeleva, Borisov put forward Kristalina Georgieva, a senior World Bank official with a long track record in aid in the developing world who should be a strong candidate. The centre-right European People's Party, which had strongly backed Jeleva's candidacy, expressed its regret at her withdrawal but did not immediately raise the stakes against its Socialist and Green opponents in parliament.
The EPP, the largest group in parliament, has concerns about some centre-left Commission candidates. But although it could seek revenge for Jeleva by trying to force out a leftist candidate, it has shown no intention of blocking any outright. The Commission, which consists of one representative from each EU member state, is appointed for five years and has important regulatory, legislative and policy-shaping powers in the bloc, a trading power with 500 million citizens.
Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso, whose second term of office will now be delayed beyond its planned February 1 start, also faced problems in winning approval for his first Commission line-up. In 2004, Italy's Rocco Buttiglione had to be withdrawn after he made comments about homosexuality being a sin, prompting a parliamentary committee to reject him.