French President Emmanuel Macron cut loose his outspoken commissioner to the European Union, Thierry Breton, in a bid to secure a more influential role for his country in Brussels.Breton had been a key figure in the current commission and as internal market chief he helped ensure that Macron had a hand in shaping the EU’s response to the growing power of US tech giants.

French President Emmanuel Macron has emerged weaker on the European stage after agreeing to yield to Ursula von der Leyen and sacrifice his heavyweight EU Commission nominee, Thierry Breton, experts say.

Emmanuel Macron had to pull France’s candidate for the European Commission at the very last moment. Ursula von der Leyen ended up with another man on her team. They left it late and the execution was messy.