With the new European Commission set to take office on 1 December, the teams that will surround the future European Commissioners are becoming clearer (see other news).
Janusz Wojciechowski, the future Commissioner for Agriculture, is continuing consultations to set up his future cabinet. In addition to Poles Maciej Golubiewski (Director of Cabinet) and Magdalena Majerczyk, Catherine Geslain-Lanéelle of France, former Director-General of the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) and EU candidate for the Director-General of the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO, see EUROPE 12281/24), but also former Director-General of the French Ministry of Agriculture and Food, will be Deputy Director of Cabinet for the next Commissioner. German and Italian advisors should also be part of this team.
Summary of the hearings. In addition, on 22 November, the European Parliament's services published, for each Commissioner, a document containing the commitments made by the candidates during their respective hearings. For Janusz Wojciechowski, the document points out in particular that the Commissioner for Agriculture is open to amendments to the Commission's proposal on the post-2020 Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) and "to do his best" to accelerate the process of external convergence of direct payments (see EUROPE 12344/4).
To consult the European Parliament summary of commitments made at the hearings of Commissioners-designate: http://bit.ly/2KQ9snK (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)