Today’s Movers & Shakers are about: The new Romanian MEP, the Commission appoints several senior officials, European Medicines Agency’s new executive director, Latvia’s environmental protection and regional development minister steps down, the latest Commission, public affairs appointments, and more!
European Parliament
Incoming
Vlad Gheorghe (RE, RO), a lawyer specialising in European funds and public procurement has taken the seat of outgoing MEP Clotilde Armand and will continue her work in the Budgets Committee (BUDG) and Serbia Delegation (D-RS). He also joins the Petitions Committee (PETI), Transport and Tourism Committee (TRAN), Albania Delegation (D-AL) and the Special Committee on Beating Cancer (BECA) as a substitute. Gheorghe has placed the eradication of corruption high on his agenda and has said that he will support the creation of an EU anti-corruption regulation to standardise definitions of corruption, integrity criteria for access to public office.
European Commission
Commissioner cabinets
Cabinet of Commissioner Margrethe Vestager
Louise Spangsberg Grønfeldt has left her position as a member of Commissioner Vestager’s cabinet to take up a role in the Commission’s legal service. Grønfeldt had previously been responsible for state aid and enforcement.
Directorates-General and Services
Communications Networks, Content and Technology (CONNECT)
Yvo Volman replaces Gail Kent as director of directorate G (Data) in an acting capacity.
Rita Wezenbeek has been appointed director for Electronic Communications Networks and Services with the date of effect to be determined. Wezenbeek is currently the head of the Telecommunications and Anti-Trust Unit in DG COMP.
Similarly, acting director of Policy, Strategy and Outreach Lorena Boix Alonso has been appointed as the new director for Digital Society, Trust and Cybersecurity. Thibaut Kleiner will take over from Boix Alonso in her previous role.
Financial Stability, Financial Services and Capital Markets Union (FISMA)
Leonie Bell replaces Nathalie Stefanowicz as head of unit E4 (Economic analysis and evaluation) in an acting capacity.
Human Resources and Security (HR)
Yves Paternoster replaces Vanessa Uytborck as head of unit, serving BUDG, DIGIT, EPSO, HR, OIB, PMO, SCIC in Directorate AMC (Account Management Centre) in an acting capacity.
Migration and Home Affairs (HOME)
Beate Gminder has been appointed deputy director-general in charge of the Task Force Migration Management. Gminder is currently director for Migration and Security Funds, Financial Resources and acting head of the Task Force Migration Management in the same DG.
Research and Innovation (RTD)
Current head of unit for Inter-Institutional and Coordination as well as acting head of unit for Communication and Citizens, Rosalinde van der Vlies, has been appointed director for directorate D (Clean Planet).
Irene Norstedt has been appointed director of directorate E (People). She has held this position for the past two years in an acting capacity.
Secretariat-General (SG)
Johannes Luebking has been appointed Principal Adviser - European Semester Coordination in the Recovery and Resilience Task Force.
Trade
Former deputy head of unit Colin Brown becomes head of unit F3 (Legal aspects of trade and sustainable development and investment) filling a vacant tenure.
Other EU Institutions and Agencies
European Medicines Agency (EMA)
Emer Cooke (IE) has begun her mandate as executive director as of Monday for a five-year term. Cooke also takes over as chairperson at the International Coalition of Medicines Regulatory Authorities (ICMRA), which is currently led by EMA. Cooke was formerly head of inspections and head of international affairs at the pharmaceutical unit of the European Commission and also worked as the director responsible for all medical product-related regulatory activities at the World Health Organization (WHO). She succeeds Guido Rasi.
European Public Prosecutor's Office (EPPO)
Danilo Ceccarelli (IT) and Andrés Ritter (DE) have been appointed deputy chief prosectors. Ceccarelli is an has worked as a magistrate since 1995 and specialises in financial crime, tax fraud, corruption, organised crime and money laundering. Ritter has headed various public prosecution offices, most recently from 2013 to 2020 being Chief Prosecutor at the specialized Public Prosecution Office for Economic Crime and Cybercrime in Rostock.
Public Affairs
Blackberry
Goran Gotev has been appointed director of government affairs and public policy for Europe. Gotev previously worked with BSA – The Software Alliance as senior manager for policy within the EMEA team.
Eurocities
Dario Nardella, the mayor of Florence, has been elected president for the next two years. Nardella succeeds the Mayor of Stockholm, Anna König Jerlmyr, and is joined by the Mayor of Leipzig, Burkhard Jung, who will become the network’s vice-president.
European Association of Cooperative Banks (EACB)
Nina Schindler, managing director at Deutsche Bank has been appointed CEO. Schindler will succeed Hervé Guider, who will retire on 1 February 2021.
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National News
Denmark
Agriculture minister Mogens Jensen has resigned over an illegal order by the government to cull the country’s farmed mink population. Earlier in the month, the government had announced their intention to slaughter the entire mink population because of a mutation of the coronavirus which could hinder the effectiveness of a new vaccine. Prime minister Mette Frederiksen is also under pressure from the opposition to resign.
Estonia
Alar Laneman has been appointed new interior minister replacing Mart Helme who stepped down from the role last week. Laneman has been a member of the Riigikogu (the Estonian parliament) since 2019 and before this worked in the defence forces.
Rain Epler has been sworn in as minister for the environment replacing Rene Kokk who submitted his resignation at the beginning of the month citing health reasons. Epler previously worked as an advisor to finance minister Martin Helme and has sat on the board of state forestry commission the RMK, and on state credit agency KredEx.
Latvia
Environmental protection and regional development minister Juris Pūce has decided to step down after he was accused of a Rīga City Council parking permit even though these days he is no longer a Rīga council deputy. Until a new minister is selected, deputy prime minister and minister for defence Artis Pabriks will cover the responsibilities of environmental protection and regional development.
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