The European Commission, through its Internal Market spokesperson, indicated that the process of appointing the SME Envoy was not yet closed on Monday 5 July.
Interviewed by EUROPE, Sonya Gospodinova, explained that given the importance of the position, the process was not yet “finalised”. However, she did not wish to comment on the concerns of the European Parliament, notably within the EPP group, about the opacity of the appointment and the profile of the potential nominee, namely Vazil Hudák.
Indeed, the latter, shortly after his appointment announced by the European Commission at the same time as the update of the industrial strategy, had been appointed as special advisor to the Georgian Prime Minister on foreign investment (see EUROPE 12751/22).
No date has been given for the formalisation of a name, but Mr Hudák is unlikely to be appointed, due to some reluctance on the part of the European Parliament, we were told. The process is therefore still particularly slow, given that the function was announced almost a year and a half ago.
“The EU Commission is taking the appointment of the SME Envoy too lightly. Why does the EU Commission need more than a year and a half to choose a competent person for this job?”, asked Henna Virkkunen (EPP, Finland) EUROPE.
“It must be a paid full-time job without any conflicts of interest, and he or she has to occupy a horizontal position in the EU Commission President’s cabinet”, expounded Jens Gieseke (EPP, Germany) to EUROPE, worried about a decision in favour of a part-time job. (Original version in French by Pascal Hansens)