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Probably the most prized positions within the EU paperwork will stay vacant, probably for weeks or months, as European Council President Charles Michel ponders his decisions for the following secretary-general of the Council of the EU.
A emptiness in such a coveted publish is very uncommon and displays the swift departure of outgoing Secretary-Common Jeppe Tranholm-Mikkelsen. The Danish diplomat introduced on the finish of March that he was transferring to the highest civil service publish within the international ministry in his dwelling nation and anticipated to start his new job on Might 1.
Tranholm-Mikkelsen has held the publish atop the Council paperwork since 2015 and his departure comes greater than three years earlier than the tip of his second five-year contract on July 1, 2025.
There isn’t a deputy secretary-general to step into Tranholm-Mikkelsen’s footwear till a everlasting successor is appointed. So two senior Council officers will quickly exchange him, in line with 5 diplomats and officers. Director Common for Common and Institutional Coverage Didier Seeuws will take over the political features of his job — together with becoming a member of EU leaders in European Council conferences. And the pinnacle of the Organisational Improvement and Companies Division, William Shapcott, will take over the executive a part of the publish.
An electronic mail to announce the interim answer is predicted on Friday, whereas Michel continues to seek the advice of EU leaders to discover a long-term successor to Tranholm-Mikkelsen, a former ambassador to the EU and to China.
The Dane is called a cool and environment friendly operator, a lot in order that some diplomats have described him as a “robotic.” The Council held a farewell occasion for him on Thursday, attended by many officers, in individual and through videolink.
On the occasion, in line with an individual current, Michel declared that “it’s no exaggeration to say that he has helped handle the best challenges of our Union in recent times … the tip of the monetary crises, the migration disaster, Brexit, the COVID pandemic, and now the warfare in Ukraine.”
The collection of Tranholm-Mikkelsen’s successor, as with all high jobs in Brussels, has to take into consideration many elements, together with expertise, gender and geography. Some officers imagine will probably be concluded forward of a particular assembly of the European Council on the finish of Might.
Candidate conjecture
Hypothesis over who will get the job is a scorching matter on the espresso machines within the Council and in EU embassies, the place diplomats and officers have began to collect once more now that COVID restrictions have subsided.
Michel is preserving his playing cards very near his chest however among the many names floating round are these of a number of girls.
One of many candidates most continuously talked about is Luminița Odobescu, a former Romanian ambassador to the EU who just lately left Brussels to work with Romanian President Klaus Iohannis. Properly ready and nicely preferred within the EU establishments, she additionally served as president of a Brussels group of Francophone ambassadors. That might be a plus as she must work intently with Michel, a Belgian from the nation’s French-speaking neighborhood who is taken into account an ally of French President Emmanuel Macron.
The Maltese EU ambassador, Marlene Bonnici, who took up the publish in July 2020 after serving in the identical workplace between July 2012 and July 2018, is one other potential candidate seen as having the depth of expertise required for the publish.
Among the many males, the identify of the French EU ambassador Philippe Léglise-Costa was extensively circulated in 2020 earlier than it was clear Tranholm-Mikkelsen would get a second time period. Some officers say it could be tough for Michel to not give the job to Léglise-Costa this time round if Macron pushes for it, additionally as a result of the French ambassador is one of the admired diplomats on the town.
Nonetheless, the appointment of Léglise-Costa may immediate complaints from officers and diplomats that France’s already appreciable energy in Brussels has been additional expanded.
One other potential male candidate is the Dutch ambassador to the EU, Robert de Groot, who can also be extensively admired by colleagues and seen as having the required cool-headed negotiating expertise. However some diplomats say that might imply an excessive amount of Benelux on the high of the Council, given Michel is European Council president and has a variety of shut aides who’re additionally Belgian.
The press workplaces of the Council of the EU and the European Council didn’t reply to a request for remark for this text.
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