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Changes at the top of the Commission

European media widely report on appointments at the European Commission’s top management level, notably within Juncker’s close team. Dutch Alexander Italianer, appointed in September 2015 as Secretary-General of the European Commission, the highest civil servant job in the EU executive, has decided to retire on 1 March, sources such as Adevărul.ro and Haravgi report, and Martin Selmayr, the current Head of Cabinet of President Juncker, will become the new Secretary-General, media widely report.

According to NRC Next, although there was a secret agreement between Mr Italianer and president Juncker about Mr Italianer leaving on 1 March, Mr Italianer’s retirement comes as a surprise.

For Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, with the promotion of his Head of Cabinet, Martin Selmayr, to Commission Secretary-General, President Juncker actually unveiled what was arguably the best-kept secret in the EU institutions. All the Commissioners were surprised when called to approve Mr Selmayr’s appointment yesterday, Kathimerini adds.

According to Süddeutsche Zeitung, Mr Selmayr’s appointment can be viewed as a double coup for the German government because it secures Germany’s influence in the Commission no matter who becomes its next President, and also because it gives the German government the freedom to push to the forefront its own candidate for the presidency of the ECB. While this may serve Germany’s national interests, it does not boost Europe’s credibility, the German newspaper however notes.

According to NRC Next, Mr Selmayr’s promotion raises the question why yet another high position is occupied by a German. The ESM and the EIB are both led by Germans and possibly the ECB will also be in the future. President Juncker responded agitated to the criticism, the Dutch newspaper reports. “I am a bit tired of always talking about nationalities,” Juncker said. “In all these years I never noticed that Selmayr defended German interests more strongly than those of Cyprus or Greece.

According to European Union officials quoted by Mediafax.ro, Mr Selmayr is not very popular among the members of the Commission, and his future, after President Juncker’s departure, is uncertain. Mr Selmayr is indeed generally described as a tough man by the media.

President Juncker also decided yesterday that his current Deputy Head of Cabinet, Spanish Clara Martinez Alberola, would become his new Head of Cabinet. Spain, Onda Cero claims, seems to regain power in the European institutions as, just one day after economy minister Luis de Guindos secured the position of ECB Vice-President, another Spanish official was appointed as the new Head of the Commission President’s Cabinet.

Ms Martínez Alberola will take office on 1 March. She will be the first woman to hold this position. Mr Juncker, Helsingin Sanomat reports, tried to draw the media’s attention to the fact that the new Head of Cabinet, Spanish Clara Martinez Alberola, will be a woman.

On Wednesday, the European Commission announced almost 20 appointments, and 36% of all director-generals and their deputies are now women, NRC Next reports. The new appointments, Trud Daily notes, are part of the plan for 40% of women in top jobs at the Commission. President Juncker commented that, in view of the remaining 20 months of his term, now was the right time to strengthen the top management in a move to meet the EU’s strategic agenda.

©EuropeanUnion2018

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