European Parliament:
Substitutes of the Committees, Subcommittees and Delegations:
Sofia SAKORAFA (GUE/NGL, EL) joined the Subcommittee on Security and Defence (SEDE).
Isabella ADINOLFI (EFDD, IT) left the Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection (IMCO) and joined the Committee on Legal Affairs (JURI).
Fabio Massimo CASTALDO (EFDD, IT) left the Committee on Legal Affairs (JURI) and joined the Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection (IMCO).
Want to know more? Click here for information on our Dods People EU service.
European Commission:
Directorates General:
Economic and Financial Affairs (ECFIN):
Directorate D – International Economic and Financial Relations, Global Governance: Annika MELANDER became Head of Unit, IMF and G-Groups following on from her period as Acting Head since January 2016.
Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion (EMPL):
Directorate F – Investment: Loris DI PIETRANTONIO became Head of Unit, F1. ESF and FEAD: Policy and Legislation, filling a previously vacant role. Mr DI PIETRANTONIO moved from Directorate A where he was Deputy Head of Unit, Employment and Social Aspects of European Semester.
Infrastructure and Logistics – Brussels (OIB):
Childcare Facilities: Jacek PASTERNAK became Head of Unit, Enrolments, Operational Management and Support. Mr PASTERNAK is the former Deputy Head and replaces facility Director Christiane BARDOUX, who was covering the role.
Health and Food Safety (SANTE):
Strategy and Coordination: Annukka OJALA became Head of Unit, filling a previously vacant position.
Directorate A – Resource Management and Better Regulation: Herman BRAND became Head of Unit, Information Systems, replacing Philippe LOOPUYT who moved to Directorate G – Crisis Management, in February 2016.
Directorate G – Crisis Management in Food, Animals and Plants: Eva Maria ZAMORA ESCRIBANO became Head of Unit, Animal Health and Welfare, filling a previously vacant position.
Directorate F – Health and Food Audits and Analysis: Paola COLOMBO has been appointed as Director, as of 1 August 2016. Since 2007, she has headed the Management and Resource Unit of the European Political Strategy Centre of the European Commission. She will take over from Franciscus ANDRIESSEN, who has been acting in the role and is Head of Unit, Country Knowledge and Work Programme.
Stay ahead of the game by subscribing to our weekly newsletter.
Legal Service (SJ):
Teams: Laura PIGNATARO NOLIN became Principle Legal Adviser, European Civil Service Law. Ms PIGNATARO NOLIN was previously a Legal Adviser for the Commission dealing with internal market and environmental issues. She replaces Gerard BERSCHEID who was acting in the role and continues in his position as Legal Adviser, European Civil Service Law.
Neighbourhood and Enlargement Negotiations (NEAR):
Directorate C – Neighbourhood East: Units 1 and 2 have been renamed to give a clearer, more focused description of their remits.
Unit 1 (formerly ‘Neighbourhood East’) is now ‘Georgia, Moldova and Neighbourhood Cross Border Cooperation’.
Unit 2 (formerly ‘Regional Programmes Neighbourhood East) is now ‘Armenia, Azerbaijan. Belarus and Eastern Partnership’.
Secretariat General (SG):
Mediation Service: Giovanni FRACCHIA has been appointed as the Commission's Mediator in the Secretariat-General, starting date to be determined later. He is currently the head of the European Commission's medical service. He will be taking over from the Deputy Mediator, Mercedes JANSSEN CASES, who has been covering the Mediator role.
New: EU High Level Group – Combatting Racism, Xenophobia and other forms of Intolerance:
Věra JOUROVÁ, Commissioner for Justice, Consumers and Gender Equality, launched a new High Level Group to tackle issues of intolerance across the EU. The creation of the group comes at a time when antisemitism and islamophobia are on the rise in Europe and follows up on the Colloquium on Fundamental Rights, held last October, by Commissioner JOUROVÁ and First Vice President TIMMERMANS. The Group will bring together member states authorities, EU and international institutions and civilian groups. It will set up a common methodology to record and collect hate crimes data and will monitor the implementation of a code of conduct, which aims to work with IT companies to tackle hate speech online. A ‘one stop shop’ website was launched on 14 June with information on EU initiatives and funding.
European External Action Service (EEAS):
Helga SCHMID has been appointed as Secretary General of EEAS following the resignation of Alain LE ROY, for personal reasons. Ms SCHMID is currently Political Director/ Deputy Secretary General of the EEAS. She will take up her new position on 1 September 2016.
External Delegations:
Turkey: Hansjörg HABER has resigned as Head of Delegation and will leave office on 1 August 2016. A successor has not yet been announced. HABER’s resignation follows a period of tension between the Delegation and Turkish government.
Committee of the Regions (CoR):
European Conservatives and Reformists Group (ECR): Rob JONKMAN (NL) has been elected as President and Joe COONEY (UK) as Vice-President. They take over from Gordon KEYMER (UK) and Oldřich VLASÁK (CZ) respectively.
Public affairs:
Got any new appointment you would like us to include in our next newsletter? Contact Ifigenia Balkoura!
Caobisco: Alessandro CAGLI, Director of the Ferrero Group EU Public Affairs Office was elected as the new President for a two-year mandate, starting on 10 June. He is succeeding Patrick POIRRIER, who was elected as Vice-President along with Francesco TRAMONTIN, Director European Affairs, Mondelēz International, who will become President in 2018.
European Federation of Bottled Water (EFBW): Jean-Pierre DEFFIS was re-elected as President for a two-year mandate. Bob WATSON, Francisco VALLEJO and Alessandro PASQUALE were also re-elected as Vice-Presidents. The elections were held during the annual meetings of EFBW in Bucharest, Romania.
European Power Exchange EPEX SPOT: Bernhard WALTER, Head of Market Design and Regulatory Affairs of EnBW AG elected as Chair of the Exchange Council, which was restructured after merging with APX.
Pharmaceutical Group of European Union (PGEU): Rajesh PATEL MBE was elected as President for 2017. The current President is Jan SMITS.
News in a nutshell:
Member states:
Croatia: The government collapsed after the Prime Minister Tihomir OREŠKOVIĆ lost a vote of confidence on Thursday 16 June. President Kolinda GRABAR-KITAROVIĆ will begin consultations with the parties, while the cabinet will operate as a caretaker government. Prior to this Tomislav KARAMARKO, Croatian Democratic Union (EPP) resigned as First Prime Minister, following a report of the national ethics watchdog over a conflict of interest. The government was formed in January 2016.
Finland: Finance Minister Alexander STUBB was replaced as leader of the National Coalition Party (EPP) during its congress by Petteri ORPO, who is currently the Interior Minister. ORPO will take over STUBB as Finance Minister as well. Prime Minister Juha SIPILÄ, Centre Party (ALDE) said that he will discuss with the NCP newly-elected leader a possible reshuffle in the Finnish cabinet.
Former Minister for Justice, Anna-Maja HENRIKSSON was elected as the new Chair of the Swedish People’s Party (ALDE), becoming the first ever female to hold the position.
Former Prime Minister Matti VANHANEN, Centre Party announced his candidacy for the presidential elections in 2018.
Latvia: Health Minister Guntis BELEVICS, Union of Greens and Farmers (ALDE) resigned after admitting that he jumped the line for a minor surgery. Anda ČAKŠA replaced him.
United Kingdom: British voters are heading to the polls on Thursday 23 June to vote on UK’s membership to the EU.
On Thursday 16 June Labour MP Jo COX died after being shot and stabbed. Campaigning in the UK on the EU referendum has been suspended. Read more.
Candidate countries:
Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM): Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister, Zoran STAVRESKI, Democratic Party for Macedonian National Unity announced his resignation due to health reasons.
Switzerland: The upper house of the Swiss parliament voted to cancel the longstanding application of the country to join the EU bloc. A formal notice to the EU about the application withdrawal is due.
