After days of intense speculation, Prime Minister Miro Cerar announced that he had chosen Bulc, a liberal.

The Slovenian government followed with a statement announcing that it “authorized Ambassador Rado Genorio, the Permanent Representative of the Republic of Slovenia to the European Union to refer the proposal to the competent EU institutions”.

Bulc will in theory inherit the Energy Union Vice-Presidency from Bratušek, who was rejected by the European Parliament on Wednesday (8 October).

But Juncker might need to rethink the allocation of portfolios in his team. Indeed, Bulc has neither the political experience, nor the policy background to lead a team of Commissioners on this matter.

Instead, the Energy Union Vice-Presidency could go to Kristalina Georgieva, who was initially allocated the Budget and Human Resources portfolio, Parliament sources told EurActiv. Georgieva’s responsibilities would then be given to Maroš Šefčovič, the Slovak who is currently nominated for Transport and Space.

As a result, Bulc would take the Education, Culture, Youth and Citizenship portfolio from Hungary’s Tibor Navracsis, who was rejected by Parliament because of his track record serving in a populist government, which has adopted restrictive media laws and launched a crackdown on NGOs.