Martin Selmayr will continue to gravitate around the Secretariat-General of the European Commission for a few more months. If he does indeed leave his post at the end of July, he will hold the post of "Adviser hors classe" in the Secretariat-General until 1 November, after which he will become Head of the Commission's Representation in Vienna (Austria) (see EUROPE 12297/3).
This gradual departure is part of a larger set of musical chairs approved by the College of Commissioners on Wednesday 24 July. Under this reorganisation, Deputy Secretary General Ilze Juhansone will temporarily replace Martin Selmayr as Secretary General until the von der Leyen Commission takes over.
The Commission points out that she has been designated in accordance with the rules of procedure because of her seniority. Martin Selmayr will continue to advise the Juncker Commission "on important strategic issues" until 31 October 2019, after which he will leave for Vienna to represent the Commission.
It is clear that with the election of Mrs von der Leyen as head of the next Commission, a German cannot also be Secretary General, Budget Commissioner Günther Oettinger told the press.
Other designations
The College of Commissioners also noted other movements. It has appointed the current Deputy Director-General in DG International Cooperation and Development (DEVCO), the Belgian Koen Doens, as Director General of his department, in view of Stefano Manservisi's retirement on 1 October 2019. It also decided to appoint three Deputy Directors General: the Irish Declan Costello as head of the Directorate-General for Economic and Financial Affairs (DG ECFIN), the German Michael Köhler as head of the Directorate-General for European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations (DG ECHO) and the French Gallo Gueye as head of the European Statistical Office (DG Eurostat). And to appoint four directors in its departments: Andreas Schwarz from Germany to the Directorate-General for Budget (DG BUDG), Lene Naesager from Denmark and Richard Kühnel from Austria to the Directorate-General for Communication (DG COMM), Georgeta Nicolaie from Romania to the Directorate-General for Human Resources and Security (DG HR), and Dušan Chrenek from Slovakia as a senior advisor in his Directorate General for Climate Action (DG CLIMA).
It then noted the departure of Johannes Laitenberger, currently Director General of the Directorate-General for Competition (DG COMP) and former Head of Cabinet of José Manuel Barroso, to the EU General Court for a term beginning on 1 September.
Finally, it confirmed two interim positions: Ms Jivka Petkova, a Bulgarian national, was appointed Director of Strategy, Better Regulation and Corporate Governance as of 1 August 2019 and Michael Karnitschnig, an Austrian, was appointed Director of External Relations as of 1 August 2019.
In addition, the College has appointed Jörg Wojahn as Head of the Representation in Berlin as from 1 September 2019. (Original version in French by Sophie Petitjean)