The European Commission announced on Wednesday 6 February that it has appointed the current Deputy Secretary-General, Ms Pia Ahrenkilde Hansen, as Director-General of the Directorate-General for Communication (DG Communication), with effect from 16 March 2019. Ms Ahrenkilde Hansen will be the first woman to hold this position.
The Commission has also decided that Timo Pesonen, the current Director-General of DG Communication from Finland, will take over as Head of the Directorate-General for the Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs (DG GROW) from 1 March 2019. He will succeed Ms Lowri Evans, who will retire on 1 March.
Ms Ahrenkilde Hansen, who is a Danish national, is one of the three Deputy Secretaries-General and currently holds the position of Chief Operating Officer for the Commission. She joined the Commission in 1995.
Timo Pesonen headed Olli Rehn's private office when Rehn was Vice-President for Economic and Monetary Affairs and the Euro from 2010 to 2014 and Commissioner for Enlargement from 2004 to 2009. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)