Brussels, 28/11/2006 (Agence Europe) - In line with its mobility strategy for senior officials, which was adopted at the end of January 2002, one Director-General, seven Deputy Directors-General and one Head of Delegation are being transferred or appointed to new posts by the European Commission. Out of the 260 Directors or equivalent currently working at the Commission, 22 are being transferred and 4 new appointments are being made. 25 other senior posts will be filled after publication of vacancy notices, with twelve of these being published internally. Three posts will be published externally and reserved for EU25 nationals. Three others will be published externally and reserved for nationals of the ten new Member States, and for the remaining seven posts, the type of publication will be decided at a later stage. This will be the second “mobility package” in relation to Directors-General after the major package of November 2005 (see EUROPE 9065). “With this movement, the Commission continues to implement its personnel policy based on a regular rotation of senior management. Such a rotation is a means to bring in fresh and innovative approaches to our top level management. The Commission has the privilege of being able to draw on an extensive pool of very qualified officials,” said Commission President José Manuel Barroso. “Due attention was paid to gender and geographical balance, merit however remaining the key consideration in all decisions,” stressed Vice-President Siim Kallas. The Commission's decisions were as follows:
Transfers of Directors-General: Jorgen Holmquist, Swedish, currently Director-General in DG FISH, becomes Director-General in DG MARKT as of 1st January 2007.
Transfers of Heads of Delegation: Carlo Trojan, Dutch, currently Head of the Delegation to international organisations in Geneva, becomes Hors Classe Adviser in DG TRADE as of 1st January 2007. Mr Trojan will retire on 31 January 2007.
Transfers of Deputy Directors-General: Dirk Ahner, German, currently Deputy Director-General in DG AGRI, becomes Director-General in DG REGIO as of 1st January 2007, following the retirement of Graham Meadows. Fokion Fotiadis, Greek, currently Deputy Director-General in DG RELEX becomes Director-General in DG FISH as of 1st January 2007 (following the transfer of Mr Holmquist). Hervé Jouanjean, French, currently Deputy Director-General in DG RELEX, becomes Deputy Secretary-General as of 1st January 2007, following the transfer of Mr Guth. Eckard Guth, German, currently Deputy Secretary-General, becomes Head of the Delegation to international organisations in Geneva as of 1st January 2007, following the transfer of Mr Trojan.
Appointments of Deputy Directors-General: Ms Anneli Pauli, Finnish, is appointed as Deputy Director-General in the Joint Research Centre (JRC). Richard Weber, French, is appointed Deputy Director-General in EuropeAid. Bernard Petit, French, is appointed Deputy Director-General in DG DEVELOPMENT.
The Commission points out that it “respects an adequate balance of nationalities represented in the Commission's services and at the same time promotes better gender balance”. Figures show that of the 75 Directors-General, Deputy Directors-General, Heads of Delegation and Hors Classe Advisers in place at the Commission on 14 November 2006, 12 were French, and 11 German. There were 8 UK citizens, 6 Italians and the same number of Spaniards, 4 Belgians and the same number of Irish nationals, 3 each from Denmark, the Netherlands, Greece and Portugal, 2 each from Hungary, the Czech Republic and Poland, 1 from each of Austria, Cyprus, Finland, Luxemburg, Sweden and Slovenia. The following countries have no nationals at these levels: Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia, Slovakia and Malta.
Italy unhappy with re-shuffle
Italian minister for European affairs and former European Commissioner Emma Bonino immediately wrote to Mr Kallas. “I have taken good note of the latest sound of 'musical chairs' of the Commission, and my first reaction is that I don't like it!” she exclaimed. She went on, “After this odd series of French and German appointments, there is some expectation that the Commission might start appointing somebody else as well. We are far from improving transparency and accountability, in many respects. Why are some vacant posts filled now, with acrobatic timelines, while others are left waiting? … What are the criteria applicable in each case? I am beginning to think that the much-vituperated system that allowed in the past each member State to expect a fair share of upper management appointments within the Commission was after all more logical, and no less transparent than the current one. …these rounds of appointments always come as a surprise to everyone - governments, observers, colleagues of those appointed - but to a couple of Commissioners and their staff”. (mg/lc)