Jozef Síkela (57), currently Czech Minister for Industry and Trade, had been considered for all possible portfolios in the new EU Commission: migration, energy, and most recently trade. Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala had expressed his desire for a „strong economic portfolio“ for his country. He was counting on Brussels to remember how skillfully Síkela had brought the member states onto a common course against Putin’s gas war during the Czech EU Council Presidency in the second half of 2022.