|
EU Commission High Level Reshuffle
Commission reshuffles in top management posts
Wednesday, 9 November, the European Commission announced the nomination of 17 Directors-Generals. This reshuffle that resulted from the Commission’s management mobility rules was foreseen for the summer, but was only completed recently due to Commission President José Manuel Barroso’s intervention.
According to the Commission’s guidelines on mobility for senior management staff, Director-Generals are supposed to rotate after 5 years in office. At the same time, Director-Generals should not have the same nationality as their Commissioners.
The biggest surprise of the reshuffle was probably the appointment of Irishwoman Catherine Day, the current head of DG Environment, who will replace David O’Sullivan in the position of Secretary-General. O’Sullivan, who is also of Irish origin, will move to DG Trade. Day will be the first woman ever to fulfill the post of Secretary-General. Barroso commented that: “The appointment of Catherine Day as Secretary General, even if based on its own merits, is emblematic of our commitment to gender balance.”
Another remarkable change was the appointment of the Dane Mogens Peter Carl who moves from DG Trade to DG Environment. Carl was known to be quite close to the French position, while O’Sullivan is known to be a liberal and free-marketeer.
The new Director-General for DG Research will be Spanish José Manuel Silva Rodrigues. The post is currently fulfilled by Achilleas Mitsos who will become "Hors Classe Advisor" in DG Research.
Current Director-General for Employment Odile Quintin (French) will swap with the current Head of DG Education, Klaus van der Pas (Germany).
While some expected François Lamoureux (France - DG Transport) to leave the Commission, he was appointed "Hors Classe Advisor" to President Barroso.
Day, O’Sullivan and Carl will take office on 21 November; the other Director-Generals will start from 1 January 2006. Some Director-General posts are still vacant, such as DG Communication, while others will be published – for instance DG Transport and DG Internal Market.
Since none of the appointed Director-Generals holds a passport of one of the 10 new Member States, the Commission announced that some Deputy Director-General posts will be reserved for the new Member States.
Transfers of Directors General & New Position
Secretary General Catherine Day
(formerly Director General Environment)
Director General DG Trade David O’Sullivan
(formerly Secretary General)
Director General DG Research
Silva Rodrigues
(formerly Director General Agriculture)
Director General DG Employment
Nikolaus van der Pas
(formerly Director General Education & Culture)
Director General DG Environment
Peter Carl
(formerly Director General Trade)
Director General DG Education & Odile Quintin
Culture
(formerly Director General Employment)
Hors Classe Advisor Secretary General François Lamoureux
(formerly Director General Energy & Transport)
Hors Classe Advisor in DG Research
Achilleas Mitsos
(formerly Director General Research)
<<< Return to News Page
|
