Frans Timmermans, the EU’s Green Deal chief, is leaving open the option of returning to national politics following the resignation of Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte.
Asked at a press conference on Tuesday whether he was interested in a return to Dutch politics, the commissioner — a member of the Netherlands’ center-left Labor Party — didn’t say no.
“My party and the Green party are holding a referendum that will allow the [party] members to speak out on whether they want to have a joint list and a joint program. Anything I would say now would disturb that process,” he said.
“It’s up to the members of both parties to express themselves and then everybody will have to make up their minds about what happens next,” he added.
The Netherlands will hold a general election in November following the government’s collapse over migration policy. Rutte on Monday announced his departure from politics after serving 13 years as prime minister and 17 years as leader of his People’s Party for Freedom and Democracy.
Timmermans briefly served as Dutch foreign minister before joining the Commission in 2014. Since 2019, he’s served as executive vice president in charge of the European Green Deal.
