The main economic jobs, however, went to Western European nations such as Spain, France and Italy that favor greater EU intervention in boosting the  European economy.

Von der Leyen has nominated Poland’s permanent representative to the EU, Piotr Serafin, as the next EU Commissioner for Budget and Administration.

Serafin will take over from the current commissioner, Johannes Hahn, if his nomination is confirmed by the European Parliament in mid-October.

If appointed to the role, Serafin will report directly to von der Leyen, the Commission President said.

Former Lithuanian prime minister Andrius Kubilius will be the EU's first defense commissioner, with the new role designed to build up European military manufacturing capacity in the face of Russian aggression in Ukraine, on the bloc's eastern flank.

Estonia's Kaja Kallas will be in charge of foreign policy. She has used her position as Estonia's prime minister to become one of Europe's most vocal critics of neighboring Russia, and one of the staunchest supporters of Ukraine's bids to join the EU and NATO.

Elsewhere in the Central and Eastern European region, the migration and internal affairs portfolio went to the Austrian candidate, Finance Minister Magnus Brünner.

Slovenia was awarded the enlargement post, though the country has yet to formally nominate a candidate. The country’s former ambassador to Germany and Switzerland, Marta Kos, is tipped for the role.

Bulgaria’s former foreign minister, Ekaterina Zaharieva, was nominated as Commissioner for Startups, Research, and Innovation.

Hungary’s Olivér Várhelyi will switch portfolios from neighborhood and enlargement to health and animal welfare while the Czech Minister for Industry and Trade, Jozef Síkela, has been put forward as Commissioner for International Partnerships.

Croatia’s Dubravka Šuica will serve in the newly created position of Commissioner for the Mediterranean.

Advocates of higher joint spending

However, the biggest growth-related jobs went to Spain, Italy and France, all countries that have called for higher joint spending and an easing of budget deficit rules.

Spain's Energy and Environment Minister Teresa Ribera will be the new antitrust chief tasked with reining in the power of Big Tech and also ensuring that the EU achieves its green goals.

Elsewhere, France's outgoing foreign minister Stephane Sejourne will be in charge of the key portfolio of industrial strategy and will seek to boost the bloc’s competitiveness on the global stage.

Most controversially, Raffaele Fitto, a member of Italian premier Giorgia’s Meloni’s hard-right ruling party, will be one of Von der Leyen’s six executive vice presidents and will look after ‘cohesion and reforms’.

While Fitto's appointment is set to rankle Europe’s left and centrist parties, it is seen as a clear nod to the growing influence of the right. In his new role, Fitto will be charged with narrowing the wealth divide between Europe’s rich and poor.

Von der Leyen had said before making her picks that she would strive for gender balance in her new Commission line-up. She failed in that bid, achieving a 40-60 split of women to men, commenting: “As much we have achieved there is still so much to do.”