The Croatian candidate for one of European commissioners will be nominated at the first government session after the summer recess, on August 22, the Jutarnji List daily reported on Thursday.

The name of the Croatian European commissioner is being kept secret, with Dubravka Suica, an experienced member of the European Parliament from the HDZ party, being considered as the likeliest nominee.

The final decision is to be made by Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic, however, the possibility of some other candidate being nominated is not ruled out either and depends on the department the prime minister negotiates with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, a source at the government told Jutarnji List.

Once the government decides who to nominate, its decision will be forwarded to the parliamentary Committee on European Affairs, after which the prime minister will send the EC president a letter with the candidate’s name by August 26.

Since Croatia has a better position than five years ago, we can get a good department, the government source told Hina.

In the first weeks after the summer recess, the government is also expected to hold talks with trade unions on their demand for a wage increase and on the tax and pension reforms, the daily says.