The decision came against the will of the biggest government party, the Social Democrats of Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka, which had been championing the candidacy of former Finance Minister Pavel Mertlík. Sobotka’s meeting with Jean-Claude Juncker in Brussels, on 16 July, when the incoming Commission president spelled out that the Czech Republic’s chances of getting a significant portfolio would be much higher with a woman candidate, appears to have clinched the contest in favour of Jourová.
Jourová, 49, is first…