BRUSSELS: French President Emmanuel Macron insisted Sylvie Goulard was the victim of a"political game" on Thursday after France's choice to be the head of EU industrial policy was emphatically rejected by European lawmakers.
After a second hearing, Goulard, an experienced former French diplomat and EU lawmaker, was rejected on Thursday by 82 EU lawmakers in two committees charged with vetting her, with only 29 backing her - failing to reach the requisite two-thirds support. The rejection complicates the task of incoming European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen, who was also put forward by Macron. While she is a centre-right politician, she was not the first choice of lawmakers of the centre-right European People's Party , the biggest bloc in parliament.In July, Macron killed off an EPP initiative to decide who would become the next head of the powerful European Commission, which helps decide policy for 500 million Europeans.