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Today's Movers & Shakers are about: the new presidency of CoR that took over official this week, the new EU delegation to Mongolia, the re-appointment of the president of EIB, public affairs news and more.
European Parliament:
Incoming:
Francis ZAMMIT DIMECH (EPP, MT) has officially joined the Parliament as member, replacing Theresa CACHIA COMODINI.
European Commission:
NEW: On 20 July the Commission launched the Bioeconomy Knowledge Centre to support the EU and it's Member States with scientific evidence on bioeconomy. The Centre is being established by the Commission's Joint Research Centre (JRC) with the help of the Directorate-General for Research and Innovation (RTD). The Centre's website features a data catalogue and 'knowledge library' which allow users to search for relevant studies or publications.
European External Action Service (EEAS):
NEW: On 24 July HR/VP Federica MOGHERINI and President Jean-Claude JUNCKER announced that the EU will be opening a new Delegation in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. The move comes amid increasingly positive relations fostered between the EU and Mongolia thanks to the Framework Agreement on Partnership and Cooperation. The EU established a non-resident diplomatic Mission to Mongolia in 1991, located at the Beijing Delegation, and opened a Technical Office in Ulaanbaatar in 2006. Hans Dietmar SCHWEISGUT has been the EU's Ambassador to China and Mongolia since September 2014.
Missions to the European Union:
Council President Donald TUSK received the letters of credentials for the following Ambassadors, Head of Mission:
Bolivia: H.E. Mr Néstor Gabriele BELLAVITE replaced Gustavo MAYNER ALARCÓN who was serving as Chargé d'Affaires.
India: H.E. Ms Gaitri Issar KUMAR replaced Rakesh Kumar ARORA who was serving as Chargé d'Affaires.
Paraguay: H.E. Mr Rigoberto GAUTO replaced Mario SANDOVAL FERNÁNDEZ.
Committee of the Regions (CoR):
Karl-Heinz LAMBERTZ (BE, PES) officially took up his new role as President of the Assembly on 26 July, replacing Markku MARKKULA (FI, EPP), who became First Vice-President. The composition of the new cabinet is as follows:
Julien de RIDDER: head of cabinet.
Jean-Paul BUFFAT: deputy head of cabinet, in charge of inter-institutional relations and Brexit.
Laura BROICH: policy advisor and assistant to the head of cabinet, in charge of employment, social policy and economic governance.
David FRENCH: communications and policy advisor, in charge of media relations, inter-institutional communications, events, environmental, climate and energy policy.
Michael JANSEN: policy advisor, in charge of relations with regional and local representations, national delegations, health, education, research and technology, migration and health.
Nicolas LETE: policy advisor, in charge of cohesion policy, MFF, fisheries, tourism and agricultural policy.
Filippo TERRUSO: advisor to First Vice-President, in charge of external relations, neighborhood policy, constitutional affairs, Brexit, migration, CORLEAP and ARLEM.
Chantal FONTAINE and Luca NEUMANN: assistants.
European Investment Bank (EIB):
On 27 July the EIB announced that its president, Werner HOYER, will serve a second six-year term commencing on 1 January 2018. Mr HOYER has overseen considerable growth at the bank during his first term. He worked closely with Jean-Claude JUNCKER on the 'Juncker Plan', which has approved EUR €44bn in financing so far.
European Central Bank (ECB):
The bank's Executive Board has appointed Hans-Joachim KLÖCKERS as Director General Economic Developments and Massimo ROSTAGNO as Director General Monetary Policy. Both are being promoted from within their directorates. Their appointments as Directors General will be effective as of 1 August 2017.
Public affairs:
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Better Finance: Aleksandra MACZYNSKA joined the team as executive director.
Specialised Nutrition Europe (SNE): Udo HERZ was elected as the new president, replacing Roger CLARKE.
News in a nutshell:
Brexit: Last week was relatively quiet, due to summer recess. The Chancellor of Exchequer Philip HAMMOND said that Brexit uncertainty is damaging the UK’s economic growth and that a speedy deal with Brussels on transition arrangements for the years beyond Brexit had to be the “first port of call” for boosting the UK’s economy. Read more. The comments came amid a report of the office for national statistics, according to which the UK economy suffered a notable slowdown in the first half of 2017. Read more.
The IMF released its report on the eurozone’s economy and warned that “numerous activities” could leave the UK for another EU member state. Read more.
Elsewhere, US President Donald TRUMP announced that his administration is working on a “big and exciting” trade deal with the UK, while branding the EU as very protectionist with the US. Read more.
Italy: Enrico COSTA stepped down as minister for regional affairs on 19 July amid a dispute over a bill that would give Italian citizenship to the children of immigrants. Prime minister Paolo GENTILONI replaced him on an interim basis.
Sweden: Prime Minister Stefan LÖFVEN announced a reshuffle in his cabinet amid an IT scandal. Home affairs minister Anders YGEMAN was replaced by the justice minister, Morgan JOHANSSON. The two ministries are merged into one. Minister for infrastructure Anna JOHANSSON was replaced by Tomas ENEROTH. Minister for health, Gabriel WIKSTRÖM is stepping down due to health reasons, while a new ministerial post for migration was created and will be held by Helene FRITZON. Defence Minister Peter HULTQVIST is facing a vote of no-confidence along with Anders YGEMAN and Anna JOHANSSON, but he will remain in his post, it was announced. Earlier this week the opposition tabled a motion of no-confidence against the three ministers.
