Denemarken draagt Mariann Fischer Boel voor als kandidaat-commissaris (en)

The Danish government on Monday, (2 August) formally nominated Minister for Food, Agriculture and Fisheries Mariann Fischer Boel to be the country's next commissioner in Brussels making the new commission almost complete.

The nomination of a woman also means that incoming Commission President José Manuel Durao Barroso's aim of having eight women in the new Brussels executive may also be fulfilled.

The Netherlands remains the only country that has not yet formally or informally nominated its candidate.

If it chooses former transport minister Neelie Kroes - who is one of two candidates - Mr Barroso's goal will be fulfilled as Poland, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Austria and Sweden are also all set to send women to Brussels.

According to the Independent, the commission president will aim to have a division of portfolios by 19 August which will be followed the next day by a seminar where all members of the new commission will meet together for the first time.

Last week, Mr Barroso had a series of meetings with commissioners including the UK's Peter Mandelson and Germany's Günter Veheugen. The meetings will continue this week.

The former Portuguese minister will come under close scrutiny for how he divides the portfolios particularly as the large member states have been making a play for all the plum jobs.