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Romania and Estonia ask to replace their EU commissioners

(ANSA) - BRUSSELS, JULY 9 - The governments of Romania and Estonia have officially expressed their will to replace the resigning European commissioners Corina Cretu and Andrus Ansip (today MEPs) with two other representatives of their countries. Romania asked to give Cretu's post to the former MEP Ioan Mircea Pascu, whereas Estonia suggested the former economy minister Kadri Simson for the post of Ansip, formerly responsible for the Digital Single Market. The EU Commission spokeswoman said the decision was considered as "regrettable" since president Jean-Claude Juncker had previously asked governments to avoid replacing the resigning members for the remaining four months of office. "Now the responsibility lies with the Council, including the consequences on the budget underlined by Juncker when he made his proposal", the spokeswoman said. Then the spokesperson underlined that the consequences include "1 million euro per commissioner due to costs related to salaries, pension rights, offices, transitional and cabinet allowances". Last week, the regional policies and the digital single market were temporarily assigned to commissioners Johannes Hahn and Maros Sefcovic. The procedure will now follow the rules established by the treaties, including the hearing before the EU Parliament. "Juncker intends to interview candidates in the coming days", the spokeswoman announced. (ANSA).