Emmanuel Macron picks CEO of outsourcing firm Atos to be EU Commissioner

Thierry Breton could face opposition from MEPs

Atos Chairman and CEO Thierry Breton poses in front of the company's logo (REUTERS)

Emmanuel Macron has nominated the longtime CEO of outsourcing company Atos to be France's new EU commissioner.

The president's office said on Thursday morning that Thierry Breton would be France's new pick, after his first choice was rejected by MEPs.

A former finance minister under Jacques Chirac, Mr Breton went on to run Atos from 2009 onwards. If confirmed by the European Parliament he would be in charge of the EU's single market.

Atos, which holds billions in UK government contracts, has a controversial reputation in Britain.

The firm became the subject of protests while it ran disability benefits assessments for the DWP: a contract it quit early in 2014 after more than 600,000 appeals were lodged against the DWP’s decision to disallow benefit, decisions which were based, in part, on Atos’ assessments. Four in 10 of the DWP’s decisions were overturned, costing taxpayers £60 million a year.

In 2013 the firm was criticised after it was found to pay no corporation in the preceding year, despite profiting from huge volumes of government contracts. In 2016 the government announced that it would review all Atos contract over £10 million after a scathing report from the public accounts committee that found the company did not show an “appropriate duty of care to the taxpayer” when doing work for the NHS. The subsequent Cabinet Office review however deemed the contracts to be acceptable.

Mr Breton, 64, hails from the large centre-right European People's Party group rather than Mr Macron's own liberal one – a fact likely to increase his chances of getting past MEPs.

One Elysee official said of the pick: “He’s man of action who knows industrial issues inside out and who, while knowing Brussels institutions, will not have a bureaucratic approach to European issues, which is important for the president."

French president Emmanuel Macron has struggled to get his Commissioner pick past the European Parliament (EbS)

Mr Macron's previous pick was Sylvie Goulard. She was rejected overwhelmingly by MEPs after she failed to answer questions about alleged conflicts of interests, as well as the breadth of her portfolio, which also included defence, space, and industrial strategy on top of managing the internal market.

Mr Breton is expected to have the same unchanged, broad portfolio – meaning his appointment is likely to be highly scrutinised by MEPs.

While each of the EU's members states gets to appoint one commissioner, subject to approval by the parliament, once elected they are bound to serve EU interests rather than that of their home member state.

The European Commission is the executive branch fo the EU, responsible for proposing new legislation and upholding the bloc's treaties. Its presidency and college of commissioners are its political leadership.