Today’s Movers & Shakers are about: New Commission to be delayed in further setback for von der Leyen, election of delegation chairs continued, new acting Director-General at DG MARE, Polish election results, latest Commission and public affairs appointments, Brexit and more!
European Parliament
Committees and Delegations
Cariforum Delegation (D-CAR)
Stéphane BIJOUX (RE, FR) has been elected chair with Inma RODRÍGUEZ-PIÑERO (S&D, ES) and Emmanouil FRAGKOS (ECR, EL) as vice-chairs.
Chile Delegation
Ryszard Antoni LEGUTKO (ECR, PL) and Leopoldo LÓPEZ GIL (EPP, ES) were elected vice-chairs.
Korean Peninsula Delegation (D-KOR)
The delegation has elected Karoline EDTSTADLER (EPP, AT) as chair, César LUENA (S&D, ES) as first vice-chair, and Judith BUNTING (RE, UK) as second vice-chair.
Latin American Delegation (D-LAT)
Nicolás GONZÁLEZ CASARES (S&D, ES), César LUENA (S&D, ES), Alicia HOMS GINEL (S&D, ES) and Inma RODRÍGUEZ-PIÑERO (S&D, ES) join as substitutes.
Mexico Delegation (D-MX)
Massimiliano SMERIGLIO (S&D, IT) has been elected chair with Jessica POLFJÄRD (EPP, SE) and Clara AGUILERA (S&D, ES) as vice-chairs.
Pan-African Parliament Delegation (D-PAP)
María Soraya RODRÍGUEZ RAMOS (RE, ES) has been elected chair with Pierrette HERZBERGER-FOFANA (Greens/EFA, DE) as first vice-chair.
Southeast Asia and ASEAN Delegation (D-ASE)
The delegation has elected Daniel CASPARY (EPP, DE) as chair, Marianne VIND (S&D, DK) as first vice-chair and Tomasz Piotr POREBA (ECR, PL) as second vice-chair.
Csaba MOLNÁR (S&D, HU) joins as a substitute.
United States Delegation (D-US)
Radosław SIKORSKI (EPP, PL) has been elected chair with Jackie JONES (S&D, UK) and Nicolae ŞTEFĂNUȚĂ (RE, RO) as vice-chairs.
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European Commission
After three rejections of Commissioner-designates, Ursula von DER LEYEN suffered another setback on Wednesday as Parliament confirmed that the assembly’s confirmation vote on the new Commission, which had originally been scheduled for next week, would be cancelled. This makes it unlikely that the new Commission will take office before 1 December.
Directorates-General
Agriculture and Rural Development (AGRI)
Christina GERSTGRASSER replaces Lene NAESAGER as Head of Unit B1 (External Communication and Promotion Policy).
Oliver SITAR replaces Bruno BUFFARIA as Head of Unit G1 (Governance of the Agri-Food Markets).
Financial Stability, Financial Services and Capital Markets Union (FISMA)
Jan CEYSSENS takes over from Mattias LEVIN as Head of Unit D2 (Bank and Financial Conglomerates).
Human Resources and Security (HR)
A new unit has been added to Directorate A (Organisational Development). This new unit (HR Business Intelligence) will be led by Matthias WILL (acting).
Maritime Affairs and Fisheries (MARE)
Following the appointment of former Director-General João AGUIAR MACHADO to the role of EU Ambassador to the WTO, Bernhard FRIESS will take over the role of Director-General in an acting capacity as well continuing with his current roles as Director at Directorate A (Maritime Policy and Blue Economy) and Acting Director at Directorate C (Fisheries Policy Atlantic, North Sea, Baltic and Outermost Regions).
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European External Action Service
Gabon, Equatorial Guinea, Sao Tomé-et-Principe and CEEAC
Rosario BENTO PAIS (PT) is the new Head of Delegation, replacing Helmut KULITZ.
Public Affairs
Body of European Regulators for Electronic Communications
Michel VAN BELLINGHEN has been chosen as chair for 2021.
European Institute for Gender Equality (EIGE)
Carlien SCHEELE has been appointed as the next Director and is expected to take up the position on 1 February 2020. She will take over from Virginija LANGBAKK, who has led the Institute since its establishment in 2010.
Invest Europe
Eric DE MONTGOLFIER has been appointed as the new CEO. He succeeds Michael COLLINS who stepped down as CEO in August.
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National News
Brexit
The UK and the EU have agreed on a revised Brexit deal. The announcement was made on Thursday but was shortly rejected as a viable option by the Democratic Unionist Party. Boris JOHNSON has until Saturday to convince MPs to back his deal, before it will be voted on in Parliament.
France
EU accession talks with North Macedonia and Albania were blocked three times by the Minister for EU affairs Amelie DE MONTCHALIN, following the Finnish Councils Presidency proposals. This has followed friction between France and the EU over the accession in the last week.
Hungary
Prime Minister Viktor ORBAN faced his first electoral setback in almost a decade on Sunday when Independent candidate Gergely KARACSONY was elected as Mayor of Budapest. KARACSONY defeated incumbent Istvan TARLOS, who was backed by ORBAN’s ruling Fidesz Party.
Poland
The Law and Justice party (ECR) were re-elected for a four-year term after Sunday’s parliamentary election, taking 43.6 percent of the vote. Their main opposition, Civic Coalition took 27.4 percent of the vote. Although the Law and Justice Party take a majority in the Sejm, the opposition have taken control of the 100-seat upper house senate.
Portugal
Antonio COSTA has presented his proposal to form a new government to the President, Marcelo DE SOUSA. COSTA has proposed a minority Social Democratic government. In comparison to the current cabinet, 14 of the 19 ministers will keep their portfolios. The new cabinet is set to take office next week.
Romania
President Klaus IOHANNIS appointed opposition National Liberal Party leader (EPP) Ludovic ORBAN, as the new Prime Minister-Designate. ORBAN has ten days to form a new government. If the opposition fail to form a new government, Viorica DANCILA would continue ruling but with an interim Social Democratic Party (PSD) government.
Spain
The Supreme Court sentenced nine Catalan leaders, including MEP Oriol JUNQUERAS, on Tuesday, over their role in Catalonia's independence bid in 2017. A third European arrest warrant has been issued against the former President of Catalonia, Carles PUIDGEMONT.
