Each member state of the European Union has the right to a single commissioner (before the Barroso I Commission in November 2004, the five largest states—France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom—were granted two) and appoints them in consultation with the president.
The United Kingdom left the EU on 31 January 2020, and did not nominate a commissioner when the Juncker Commission ended on 1 December 2019.
A number of commissioners were formally nominated and assigned portfolios before being withdrawn after their hearing with the European Parliament, with the exception of Thorvald Stoltenberg, who withdrew after the rejection of Norway's accession referendum.
[citation needed] At the end of the Juncker Commission, some were initially named by the member states to succeed commissioners who took seats in the European Parliament before an agreement to not fill the seats under the start of the next commission.
[citation needed] The Von der Leyen I Commission requested member states name female and male candidates in order to have gender parity.