European Parliament:
Outgoing:
Pablo IGLESIAS (GUE/NGL, ES) announced his resignation as an MEP on 27 October, in order to focus on the campaign for the upcoming parliamentary elections in December. Xabier BENITO is in line to replace him.
Members of the Committees, Subcommittees and the Delegations:
José BLANCO LÓPEZ (S&D, ES) left the Committee on Regional Development (REGI) and joined the Committee on Industry, Research and Energy (ITRE).
Iratxe GARCÍA PÉREZ (S&D, ES) left the Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety (ENVI) and joined the Committee on Regional Development (REGI).
Soledad CABEZÓN RUIZ (S&D, ES) switched from substitute to a member of the Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety (ENVI).
Nicolas BAY (ENF, FR) joined the Committee on Development (DEVE).
Béla KOVÁCS (NI, HU) left the Delegation to the Euronest Parliamentary Assembly (D-EPA).
Substitutes of the Committees, Subcommittees and the Delegations:
Soledad CABEZÓN RUIZ (S&D, ES) switched from member to a substitute of the Committee on Industry, Research and Energy (ITRE).
Andi CRISTEA (RO, S&D) left the Delegation to the EU-Turkey Joint Parliamentary Committee (D-TR) and joined the Delegation to the EU-Armenia and EU-Azerbaijan Parliamentary Cooperation Committees and the EU-Georgia Parliamentary Association Committee (D-SCA).
Iratxe GARCÍA PÉREZ (S&D, ES) left the Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development and joined the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (LIBE).
Daciana Octavia SÂRBU (S&D, RO) left the Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development (AGRI).
Laurenţiu REBEGA (ENF, RO) joined the Committee on Foreign Affairs (AFET).
Bruno GOLLNISCH (NI, FR) joined the Delegation for relations with the Korean Peninsula (D-KOR).
Sotirios ZARIANOPOULOS (NI, EL) left the Delegation to the EU-Albania Stabilisation and Association Parliamentary Committee (D-AL) and joined the Delegation to the EU-Kazakhstan, EU-Kyrgyzstan, EU-Uzbekistan and EU-Tajikistan Parliamentary Cooperation Committees and for relations with Turkmenistan and Mongolia (D-CAS).
Béla KOVÁCS (NI, HU) joined the Delegation for relations with Canada (D-CA).
Political groups:
Monica MACOVEI (RO) defected from the EPP and joined the ECR group. Following this development, the ECR group raises the number of the member states it is comprised of to 17. The current seat breakdown of the Parliament is as follows:
Rapporteurs and Draftspersons:
Frederick FEDERLEY (ALDE, SE) appointed draftsperson of the ITRE opinion on Enhancing cost-effective emission reductions and low carbon investments (EC proposal to revise the EU ETS Directive).
Werner LANGEN (ALDE, DE) appointed ITRE rapporteur on the EC communication on Energy Market Design.
European Commission:
Directorates General:
Environment (ENVE) – Directorate B Natural Capital: Nicola NOTARO became the new Head of Nature Unit, replacing Michael O’BRIAIN.
Directorate E Global and Regional Challenges, LIFE: Gilles GANTELET became the new Head of LIFE – Nature Unit, replacing Angelo SALSI.
Shared Resources Directorate with CLIMA: Alan HUYTON became the new acting Head of Human Resources and Administration Unit, replacing Hans DE JONG.
Spokesperson’s Service – Taxation and Customs: Audrey AUGIER left her position as Financial Affairs, Taxations and Customs Press Officer.
Secretariat-General: Based on a proposal of the President, the European Commission appointed three new Deputy Secretaries-General, the positions of whom became vacant after the promotion of the previous Deputy Secretaries-General to the position of Directors-General. Following this, Paraskevi MICHOU, currently acting Director-General of Justice and Consumers Directorate-General, and Jean-Eric PAQUET, currently Director for the Western Balkans in Neighbourhood and enlargement negotiations Directorate-General, appointed Deputy Secretaries-General and will take on their positions as of 1 November and Ilze JUHANSONE, currently Permanent Representative of Latvia to the European Union as of 16 November.
Committee of the Regions (CoR):
Members:
Dagmar MÜHLENFELD (PES, DE) left her position.
Alternates:
Panagiotis KATSIVELAS (EPP, EL) and Michael SCHICKHOFER (PES, AT) left their positions.
Missions to the EU:
The following Ambassadors presented their letters of credentials to the President of the European Council on 29 October 2015:
Maria UBACH FONT, Ambassador, Head of the Mission of the Principality of Andorra.
Lidija TOPIC, Ambassador, Head of Mission of Bosnia and Herzegovina, replacing Ambassador Igor DAVIDOVIĆ.
Thireak CHEA, Ambassador, Head of the Mission of the Kingdom of Cambodia.
Dan COSTELLO, Ambassador, Head of the Mission of Canada.
Khamkheuang BOUNTEUM, Ambassador, Head of the Mission of the Lao People's Democratic Republic.
Tedson Aubrey KALEBE, Ambassador, Head of the Mission of the Republic of Malawi.
Thomas Selby PILLAY, Ambassador, Head of the Mission of the Republic of Seychelles.
Claudia SALERNO CALDERA, Ambassador, Head of the Mission of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela.
Public affairs:
GSMA: John GIUSTI appointed as Chief Regulatory Officer effective 1 November.
Radio Spectrum Policy Group: Philip MARNICK from elected as the new Chair and Jonas WESSEL as the new Deputy Chair, starting on 1 January 2016.
European Tech Alliance: was formed by a group of high-tech companies in an event hosted by MEP Catherine STIHLER (S&D, UK) in the plenary session in Strasbourg on 27 October. The Alliance, which is headed by Niklas ZENNSTRÖM was endorsed by Commissioner Andrus ANSIP.
Cambre Associates: Efthymia NTIVI joined as Account Manager on 19 October. Ms NTIVI will be focusing on internal market and digital agenda.
Baxter: Sandra GAISCH-HILLER appointed as the new Senior Director Government Affairs & Public Policy, EMEA starting on 19 October.
News in a nutshell:
Member States:
Poland: The Law and Justice (PiS) (ECR) won the parliamentary elections on Sunday 25 October and is set to form a majority government. Following the defeat of Civic Platform (EPP), outgoing Foreign Minister Grzegorz SCHETYNA, announced that he is ready to run for the leadership of the party if elections go ahead.
Portugal: President Anibal CAVACO SILVA, Social Democratic Party (EPP), approved the new cabinet that the Prime Minister Pedro PASSOS COELHO, Social Democratic Party (EPP) suggested and the new minority government will take oath on Friday 30 October at 13.00 CET. Maria Luis ALBUQUERQUE and Rui MACHETE were re-appointed as Minister for Finance and Foreign Affairs respectively.
Finland: The governing coalition partner, Finns Party has formally been expelled Sebastian TYNKKYNEN, its third Vice-chair for possibly violating privacy laws, by publishing names of the supporters.
Candidate countries:
Turkey: Turkish people are heading back to polls on Sunday 1 November for a second time this year, following the failure of Ahmet DAVUTOĞLU’s Justice and Development party (AKP) (AECR) to form a coalition government and his party lost its parliamentary majority in June’s elections.
European Parliament: MEPs approved the reform of the General Court that increases the number of judges from 28 to a total of 56 by 2019. For first time, a clause on the gender parity is included into a regulation that is governing an EU institution by the Parliament and the Council.
President Martin SCHULTZ (S&D, DE) announced disciplinary measures against Janusz KORWIN-MIKKE (NI, PL) and Gianluca BUONANNO (ENF, IT) for disturbing Parliament's work. The measures include the suspension from all the activities of Parliament and its bodies for a 10 day period.
After the suggestion of co-rapporteurs Danuta Hübner (EPP, PL) and Jo Leinen (S&D, DE) MEPs voted to postpone the vote on the reform of the European electoral law to November’s plenary, in order to give the political groups more time to achieve good compromise.
Want to know more? Click here for information on our Dods People EU service. You can also stay ahead of the game by subscribing to our weekly newsletter.