On Monday 19 September, the Council of the EU officially appointed British national Julian King as European Commissioner for Security Union. The decision came into force the same day and will run until the end of the Juncker Commission on 31 October 2019 or until the United Kingdom leaves the European Union.
Last week after a hearing with King – a British diplomat who was proposed by then prime minister David Cameron to replace Jonathan Hill when the latter resigned as Financial Services Commissioner (see EUROPE 11622) – the European Parliament deemed that King had the right skills for the job.
As the UK’s new ear at the highest level of the European Commission, King is planning to focus work on interoperability among the various intelligence services and to strengthen cybersecurity. One of his challenges will be to coordinate his work in practice with commissioners dealing with related issues, such as Commissioners Avramopoulos (migration and home affairs) and Jourová (justice). (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)