Today's Movers & Shakers are about: which MEPs left their seats and who will replace them, new appointments in the Permanent Representations, latest moves in the European Commission, public affairs news, Brexit and more.
European Parliament:
Incoming:
Scottish Baroness Nosheena MOBARIK (UK) replaced Ian DUNCAN (ECR) on 11 September. She took a leave of absence from the House of Lords.
Stay ahead of the game by subscribing to our weekly newsletter.
Committees and delegations:
Vice-Chairs:
Sergio GUTIÉRREZ PRIETO (S&D, ES) was confirmed as 4th Vice-Chair of the committee on the internal market and consumer protection (IMCO), replacing Nicola DANTI (S&D, IT).
Clare MOODY (S&D, UK) was elected as 3rd Vice-Chair of the subcommittee on security and defence (SEDE).
Substitutes:
Francis ZAMMIT DIMECH (EPP, MT) joined the committee on culture and education (CULT), the subcommittee on human rights (DROI), the committee of inquiry to investigate alleged contraventions and maladministration in the application of Union law in relation to money laundering, tax avoidance and tax evasion (PANA) and the Delegation for relations with the People's Republic of China (D-CN).
Enrique CALVET CHAMBON (ALDE, ES) left the committee on petitions (PETI).
National parties:
Pier Antonio PANZERI (S&D, IT) defected from the Democratic party and joined the Article 1 – Democratic and Progressive Movement.
Plenary session:
MEPs are in Strasbourg from Monday 11 to Thursday 14 September.
European Commission:
Directorates-General:
Agriculture and Rural Development (AGRI):
Directorate I – Legal, institutional and procedural matters: Isabelle TRANCHANT became Head of Unit ‘Adoption procedures, committees, expert groups and civil dialogue groups’.
Energy (ENER):
Directorate E – Euratom Safeguards: Nicole ERDMANN became acting Head of Unit ‘Policy, Quality and Technology’ replacing Paul MEYLEMANS. Pavel JIRSA became Head of ‘Inspections: reprocessing plants’ replacing Sotiris SYNETOS. Mr JIRSA was previously Head of ‘Inspections: reactors, geological repositories and other installations’ which is now covered by Valenti CANADELL BOFARULL, who is acting in the role.
Euratom: Jussi VIHANTA replaced Ivo ALENHO as Head of ‘Nuclear Fuel Market Operations’.
Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs (GROW):
Directorate A – Competitiveness and European Semester: Lubomira HROMKOVA became Head of Unit ‘Communication, Access to Documents and Document Management’ replacing Bonifacio GARCIA PORRAS. Iwona PIORKO became Head of ‘International Affairs’ replacing Christos KYRIATZIS who was acting.
Directorate B – Single Market Policy, Regulation and Implementation: Ewa SZYMANSKA became Head of Unit ‘Enforcement of the Internal Market’ replacing Maciej GORKA.
Directorate C – Industrial Transformation and Advanced Value Chains: Peter HANDLEY became Head of Unit ‘Resource Efficiency and Raw Materials’ replacing Mattia PELLEGRINI.
Directorate E – Modernisation of the Single Market: Maciej GORKA became Head of ‘Business-to-business Services’ replacing Maria REHBINDER.
Directorate F – Innovation and Advanced Manufacturing: Amaryllis VERHOEVEN became Head of Unit ‘Intellectual Property and Fight Against Counterfeiting’ replacing Michael Koenig who was acting.
Directorate G – Single Market for Public Administrations: Bonifacio GARCIA PORRAS became Head of ‘Access to Procurement Markets’ replacing Jean-Yves MUYLLE.
Want to know more? Click here for information on our Dods People EU service.
Mobility and Transport (MOVE):
Directorate A – Policy Coordination: Harvey ROUSE was promoted from Deputy to become Head of Unit 'International Relations' replacing Per HAUGAARD who was acting.
Translation (DGT):
Directorate D – Translation: Jackie MORIN became Head of the French language department replacing Isabelle TRANCHANT.
Trade (TRADE):
Directorate B – Services and Investment, Intellectual Property and Public Procurement: Peter KOVACS became Head of Unit 'Intellectual Property and Public Procurement' replacing Fernando PERREAU DE PINNINCK who moved to TAXUD.
Executive Agency for Small and Medium Enterprises (EASME):
Julien GUERRIER has been appointed as Director as of 16th September 2017. He will replace Marco MALACARNE who has been serving as acting Director.
Permanent Representations:
France: Mathilde FELIX-PAGANON is the new Spokesperson and Ludovic BUTEL the new Antici Counsellor.
Ireland: Eamonn MAC AODHA was appointed as head of institutional affairs, having previously served as Ireland’s Ambassador to the Kingdom of Belgium
United Kingdom: Paul JONHSTON was appointed as the new Political and Security Committee Ambassador, replacing Angus LAPSLEY.
Public affairs:
Got any new appointment you would like us to include in our next newsletter? Contact Ifigenia Balkoura!
British American Tobacco (BAT): Dervla GLEESON was appointed as director of external EU affairs communications. She will be supporting the public affairs team’s work on regulatory issues, led by Vice-President of EU affairs Giovanni CARUCCI, focusing on tackling illegal trade, which represents a significant loss of revenues to governments, and helping to drive the success of next generation products such as e-cigarettes, which reduce the public health impact of smoking.
European Aluminium: Kelly ROEGIES joined the Brussels based association representing the aluminium value chain in Europe, on 16 August as a communications manager. Prior to joining, she worked as a strategic communications manager for a non-profit organisation and a Virtual Reality start-up company for the educational market. She has also worked as a senior corporate communications consultant for FTI Consulting in Brussels. In her new role, Kelly will be focusing on educating stakeholders about the unique properties of aluminium and the contribution the metal can make to meeting Europe’s sustainability challenges.
European Association of the Machine Tool Industries (CECIMO): Dimitra VASILIA joined as EU Public Affairs Manager. She was previously Senior Consultant at Schuman Associates a Brussels-based EU Funding and Public Affairs Consultancy. Dimitra will work on EU regulatory and policy issues, mainly in the field of industrial policy, circular economy, research, innovation, skills and education, with a specific focus on the digital single market, digital economy and society.
European Federation of Academies of Sciences and Humanities (ALLEA): Antonio LOPRIENO was elected as the new president as of May 2018, succeeding Günter STOCK.
GPLUS: Thomas BARROS-TASTETS and Daniel BRINKWERTH were appointed as managing partners, assuming their duties with immediate effect. In their new roles, they will be running the group’s offices in Brussels, Berlin, London and Paris.
International Marine Contractors Association (IMCA): David BLOOM was appointed as director for client engagement. In his new role, he will be focusing on developing and expanding its engagement with oil companies and the broader industry.
WWF European Policy Office: Geneviève PONS announced her decision to step down as director, to pursue a new career at the Jacques Delors Institute. Deputy director Andrea KOHL will replace her as acting director as of 1 October.
*Correction: Last week we reported that Agnès LEROUX joined acumen public affairs as account manager, while her actual job title is account director. Ms LEROUX will be working on transport, energy, environment and DSM for the moment.
News in a nutshell:
Brexit: Following the stalemate of the third round of the negotiation talks over Brussels refusal to discuss the EU-UK future relationships unless more progress is made on the citizens’ rights, the divorce bill and the Irish borders, Downing Street called on the EU to intensify the talks. Prior to this, Brexit Secretary David DAVIS accused EU negotiator Michel BARNIER of being “silly” by claiming that not enough progress is being made.
Regarding the Brexit divorce bill, DAVIS said that it will not be agreed for at least another year, while Michel BARNIER blasted the UK’s position on Northern Ireland, and warned that UK cannot use Ireland as a “test case” for the future relations with the EU.
Meanwhile, European Commission president Jean-Claude JUNCKER’s chief of staff, Martin SELMAYR said that “Brexit is bad, and it’s a stupid decision” during a conference in Brussels. His comments came after BARNIER said Brussels would educate the UK about the importance of the single market. He later tweeted that he was not referring to the UK specifically, but to all member states.
According to minutes from a Commission meeting that took place in July, Jean-Claude JUNCKER questioned the “stability” of the Brexit Secretary during the negotiations and warned that his performance “risked jeopardizing the success of the negotiations”. Read more.
While addressing a committee meeting, Parliament chief negotiator Guy VERHOFSTADT made the bombshell claim that UK Prime Minister Theresa MAY would deliver a speech on 21 September, and cause scheduled talks to be pushed back by a week. Read more.
The second reading of the EU (Withdrawal) bill started on Thursday 7 September in the Commons. The constitution committee of the House of Lords launched a furious attack against ministers, accusing Theresa MAY of devising “unprecedented” plans to transfer power from Parliament to the Government over Brexit.
In the area of scientific research, UK will seek to maintain collaboration with the EU post-Brexit, it has emerged. Read more.
Slovakia: Peter PLAVČAN stepped down as minister for education over a misuse of EU funds scandal. Minister for agriculture and rural development Gabriela MATEČNÁ has replaced him temporarily.
