EV 281004
The Barroso Commission I
New faces: the Commission cabinets
By Martin Banks
Most of the designated members of José Manuel Barroso’s Commission had
completed recruitment to their private offices ahead of Wednesday’s events in the
European Parliament.
The notable exceptions were Rocco Buttiglione, whose appointment was so fiercely criticized,
and the new president himself.
Commissioners can appoint six or seven administrator-grade officials to their cabinets. Each
cabinet must contain at least three different nationalities and either the head or deputy head
must be a different nationality from the commissioner. The chef de cabinet, usually an
experienced Commission civil servant or diplomat, will be an A-13 grade official (A2 under the
old rules), while the deputy chef is grade A-12 (formerly A3).
Each commissioner has a spokesperson, who must be of a different nationality. The
spokespersons are not members of the cabinets, but are answerable to the Commission
spokeswoman, Françoise Le Bail.
José Manuel Barroso (Portugal, president)
Head of cabinet: João Vale de Almeida
Deputy: Alexander Italianer
Spokesperson: Françoise le Bail
Günter Verheugen (Germany, enterprise and industry)
Head of cabinet: Peter Tempel
Deputy: Christian Danielsson
Members: Petra Erler, Simon Mordue, Matthias Oel, Anne-Laure De Coincy
Siim Kallas (Estonia, administrative affairs and fight against fraud)
Head of cabinet: Henrik Hololei
Deputy: Kristian Schmidt
Members: Derk-Jan Eppink, Keir Fitch, Veronica Manfredi, Margus Rahuoja, Elisabeth Werner
Rocco Buttiglione (Italy, justice, freedom and security)
All cabinet members TBA
Jacques Barrot (France, transport)
Head of cabinet: Benoit le Bret
Deputy: Kerstin Jorna
Members: Miguel Sagredo, Armelle Lidou, Francis Morgan, Thomas Chenevier Spokesman:
Stefaan De Rynck
Margot Wallström (Sweden, institutional relations and communications)
Head of cabinet: Rolf Annerberg
Deputy: Antonia Carparelli
Members: Anne Bergenfelt, Beate Gminder, Lena Ag, Mark Gray
Joe Borg (Malta, fisheries and maritime affairs)
Head of cabinet: Patrick Tabone
Deputy: Michael Köhler
Members: Joanna Darmanin, Maja Kirchner, Tiago Pitta e Cunha, Waddah Saab, Ella Strickland
Stavros Dimas (Greece, environment)
Head of cabinet: Nancy Kontou
Deputy: Pierre Schellekens
Members: Dimitris Giotakos, Kostas Kostopolous, Martijn Quinn, Claudia Canevari
Joaquín Almunia (Spain, economic and monetary affairs)
Head of cabinet: Maria Luisa Lamela
Deputy: Peter Bekx
Members: Benjamin Angel, Gabriele Giudice, Maria Martin Prat, Antoine Quero, Ursula Castro
Spokesperson: Amelia Torres
Ingrida Udre (Latvia, taxation and customs union)
Head of cabinet: Andris Piebalgs
Deputy: Pim van Ballekom
Members: Oskars Kastens, Angela Bardenhywer
(remainder TBA)
Benita Ferrero-Waldner (Austria, external affairs)
Head of cabinet: Patrick Child
Deputy: Peter Schwaiger
Members: Judith Gebetstroithner, Miriam Gonzalez Durantez, Hubert Gambs, Richard Kuehnel,
Vincent Guerend
Spokesperson: Emma Udwin
Ján Figel (Slovakia, education and culture)
Head of cabinet: Miroslav Adamis
Deputy: Margarida Gameiro
Members: Peter Javorcik, Eva Wenigová, David Hughes, Bern Biervert, Giuseppa Contino
Spokesperson: Frédéric Vincent
Mariann Fischer Boel (Denmark, agriculture and rural devt.)
Head of cabinet: Claus Sørensen
Deputy: Klaus-Dieter Borchardt
Members: Jean-Charles Ellermann-Kingombe, Christina Borckman, Linda Mauperon, Rosario
Bento Pais
Spokesperson: Michael Mann
Dalia Grybauskaite (Lithuania, budget, financial programming)
Head of cabinet: Stephen Quest
Deputy: Leina Adakauskiene
Members: Rima Kaziliuniene, Denis Genton, Arunas Ribokas, Vasco Cal, Baudouin Baudru
Spokesperson: Ewa Hudlund
Danuta Hübner (Poland, regional policy)
Head of cabinet: Joost Korte
Deputy: Marta Cygan
Members: Marco Panigalli, Joanna Szychowska, Slawomir Tokarski, Eric von Breska, David
Young
Spokesperson: TBA
László Kovács (Hungary, energy)
Head of cabinet: Tamàs Szücs
Deputy: Christopher Jones
Members: Bonifacio García Porras, László Varró, Alexandra Jour-Schröder, Anabela Gago-
Filori, Attila Marján
Neelie Kroes (The Netherlands, competition)
Head of cabinet: Ben Smulders
Deputy: Olivier Guersent
Members: Carlos Tenreiro, Barbara Brandtner, Lorena Boix-Alonso, Michelle Sutton
Spokesperson: Jonathan Todd
Markos Kyprianou (Cyprus, health and consumer protection)
Head of cabinet: Margaritis Schinas
Deputy: Philippe Brunet
Members: Paula Pinho, Alessandro Giordani, Despina Spanou, Erdem Erginel, Georgina
Georgiou
Spokesperson: Philip Tod
Peter Mandelson (UK, trade)
Head of cabinet: Simon Fraser
Deputy: Denis Redonnet
Members: Roger Liddle, Hiddo Houben, Renate Nikolay, Per Haugaard, Catherine Wendt
Spokesperson: Claude Veron-Reville
Charlie McCreevy (Ireland, internal market and services)
Head of cabinet: Martin Power
Deputy: Claire Bury
Members: Michael Murray, Martin Merlin, Peter Kerstens, Helen Blake, Shane Sutherland
Spokesperson: Oliver Drewes
Louis Michel (Belgium, development)
Head of cabinet: Sabine Weyand
Deputy: Koen Doens
Members: Hervé Delphin, Valérie Glatigny, Jean-François Brakeland, Karin Gardes
Janez Potocnik (Slovenia, research)
Head of cabinet: Peter Dröll
Deputy: Kurt Vandenberghe
Members: Boftjan Sporar, Sian Prout, Benedicte Caremier, Charlotte Haentzel, Matjaz Malgaj
Spokesperson: Antonia Mochan
Viviane Reding (Luxembourg, information society and media)
Head of cabinet: Johannes Laitenber
Deputy: Viviane Hoffman
Members: Christophe Forax, Nathalie Davies, Miguel Faranca, Raf Chanterie, Ken Duchtel
Spokesperson: Martin Selmayr
Olli Rehn (Finland, enlargement)
Head of cabinet: Timo Pesonen
Deputy: Fernando Frutuoso De Melo
Members: Jean-Christophe Filori, Maria Asenius, Kristian Hedberg, Heather Grabbe, Mikko
Alkio
Spokesperson: Krisztina Nagy
Vladimir Spidla (Czech Republic, employment and social affairs)
Head of cabinet: Ramiro Cibrian
Deputy: Kristin Schreiber
Members: Daniela Bankier, Michael Ralph, Stephan Ouaki, Jan Jarab, Iva Lanova
Spokesperson: Katherina von Schnurbein
EV 071004
Milanesi in line to lead Buttiglione’s cabinet
By Martin Banks
ONE of the European Commission’s top civil servants is being strongly tipped to
become head of cabinet for Rocco Buttiglione.
Enzo Moavero Milanesi, a 50-year-old Italian, has been deputy secretary-general of the
Commission for nearly three years.
But speculation is rife that he is set to quit as joint number two to Irishman David O’Sullivan
to take up the top post in Buttiglione’s office.
The incoming commissioner for justice and home affairs is the only member of the Barroso
Commission, which takes office on 1 November, yet to announce a chef de cabinet.
After his confirmation hearing before the committee on civil liberties, justice and home affairs
at the European Parliament on Tuesday (5 October), Buttiglione said he had now selected his
chef and deputy chef, but an official announcement would be made only when other positions
in his six-strong team had been filled.
But a source close to 56-year-old Buttiglione said Milanesi was a “very strong” candidate to
head his cabinet. If confirmed, it would mark the latest in a series of cabinet positions Milanesi
has held since he joined the Commission in 1983 at the competition directorate-general.
Milanesi, who is married with three children, has also worked in the cabinets of former
Commission vice- president Filippo Maria Pandolfi (1989-92) and then internal market and
financial services commissioner Mario Monti (1995-99).
In 1993, Milanesi left the Commission for a year to head the European affairs secretariat in the
cabinet of Italian premier Carlo Azeglio Ciampi. After resuming his Commission career, he
spent 12 months in the executive’s secretariat-general before going to Monti’s cabinet. In
1999-2002 he was a director in DG Competition.
A lawyer by profession, he has lectured on EU law in several Italian universities. Milanesi was
unavailable for comment but a Commission insider said: “He certainly has the track record for
the top job in Buttiglione’s cabinet.”
Hello everyone,
>
> As promised, here is the translation of Agnès
> Bertrand's article on the new EU trade commissioner.
> The original French text follows.
>
>
> Jean-Yves LeFort
> Trade Campaigner
> Council of Canadians
> (613) 233-4487 ext.249
> jylefort@canadians.org
>
> Who is Mandelson, the new UE Trade Commissioner?
>
> By : Agnès Bertrand and Laurence Kalafatides
> (September 3rd, 2004)
>
> "Globalization severely punishes countries who try
> to manage their economies while ignoring the
> realities of the market or prudent public finance.
> It is in that sense and in the urgent need to remove
> rigidity and incorporate flexibility in the capital
> markets, in labor and in commodities that we are
> all, henceforth Thatcherites"
>
> Peter Mandelson, The Times: June 10, 2002
>
> It is a very atlantist tandem that will take over
> the General Direction of trade at the EU on November
> 1st and will guide, on behalf of the 25 members of
> the Union, negotiations at the WTO. Peter Mandelson
> is a Blair/Thatcherite who is known especially for
> is chronic capacity to lie. Twice before, facts have
> been sufficiently troubling to force him to resign
> his ministerial duties. To assist him in his task,
> Mandelson has just named Simon Fraser to the Cabinet
> Director position. Currently Director for the Middle
> East (Foreign Office), Fraser is a former cabinet
> member for Leon Brittan, who was EU trade
> Commissioner in the 90s.
>
> For American and European businessmen, this duo
> represents very good news. If need be, they will be
> able to give them direct instructions on the
> strategies to pursue during the negotiations. Peter
> Mandelson and Simon Fraser are both members of the
> very select Ditchley Foundation. Although Simon
> Fraser only appears on the Foundations' programs
> committee, Peter Mandelson has been, for the past
> ten years, on the Board of Directors along with Leon
> Brittan. The foundation is currently presided by the
> former British PM, John Major. Created in 1958 to
> strengthen transatlantic links, Ditchley now
> conducts a "unique program on international
> affairs". Small groups of 40 people, businessmen, servicemen, and
> journalists are convened to the sumptuous residence at Ditchley Park
> near Oxford, 15 times a year. WTO negotiations are, off course, on
> the agenda of this "unique program". The Ditchley
> Park GATS ZONE is THE GATS zone par excellence. It
> is in this 18th century manor that, a strategy to
> include services in the GATT was born in 1979. That
> conference was presided by Harry Freeman, a high
> level executive with American Express and Geza
> Feketekuty, the American trade negotiator.
> Participants decided to form a lobby service, The
> American Coalition of Service Industries (USCSI),
> which was later created in 1982.
>
> 19 years later, in April 1998, USCSI president
> Robert Vastine, organized a GATS conference at
> Ditchley Park. This time, the objective was to
> prepare the GATS revisions in the context of the
> "Services 2000" negotiations set to begin in
> February of 2000. The meeting was presided by Jaime
> Serra Puche, a former Mexican trade Minister and
> Chief negotiator for NAFTA. Puche had been called in
> 1993 to help finalize the drafting of the GATS. With
> him, 42 carefully selected guests. Veterans like
> Harry Freeman and Geza Feketekuty were faithfully
> present. Influential businessmen consulted with
> American and European Technocrats. Among them,
> American negotiators Jeff Lang, Joe Papovitch and
> Andy Stoler. The European Commission was represented
> by Robert Madelin and Fernando Pereau de Penninck.
> Also on the guest list were Florence Dobelle, the
> French Ambassador at the WTO, David Hartridge,
> Director of the Services department at the WTO and
> Jill Courney, President of the working group on
> GATS. For three days, the participants polish their
> strategy. The goal is to put in place "competition
> policies" to liberalize national markets, determine
> a calendar of negotiations for the "GATS 2000"
> agenda to achieve a "liberalization through a
> deliberate jurisprudence strategy via WTO Panels"
> and to accelerate Euro-American integration by ways
> of a transatlantic partnership. The conference gives
> birth to a new international lobby on services, The
> Global Services Network.
>
> Peter Mandelson has learned his lesson well. During
> his brief stay at the Ministry of Trade and Industry
> (July to November 98), he convened industrialists to
> help him prepare for the "Services 2000"
> negotiations. His approach was unambiguous. "The
> principal barriers to trade reside in national
> legislation. The negotiating positions of the
> European Union must reflect the priorities the
> British businessman."
>
>
> Which future project will the new European Trade
> commissioner bring to Brussels in his briefcase?
> Which grass snake will he try to feed us? The man
> who authorized the sale of Wessex Water to Enron is
> unlikely to be troubled by the elimination of public
> services in Europe. For the WTO and the business
> lobby, at a time when locking-up the GATS
> negotiations is the priority, Mandelson appears as
> THE man for the job. For the European population and
> for Parliamentarians, the time to speak-up is NOW!
>
> Source : Réseau des collectivités hors AGCS
>
> Qui est Mandelson, nouveau
> commissaire de l'UE
>
> 3 septembre 2004 , par Agnès
> Bertrand Laurence Kalafatides
>
> « la globalisation punit sévèrement
> les pays qui essaient de gérer leurs économies en
> ignorant les réalités du marché ou d'une gestion
> prudente des finances publiques. Dans ce sens, et
> dans le besoin urgent de lever les rigidités et
> d'incorporer de la flexibilité dans les marchés des
> capitaux, du travail et des marchandises nous sommes désormais tous
> thatchériens » Peter Mandelson,The Times : June 10, 2002 - The
> Observer Sunday June 16, 2002
>
> C'est un tandem extrêmement
> atlantiste qui prendra les commandes de la Direction
> Générale du Commerce Extérieur à la Commission
> Européenne, le 1° novembre, et conduira, au nom des
> 25 Etats membres de l'Union, les négociations à
> l'OMC. Le nouveau Commissaire, Peter Mandelson, blairo-thatchérien,
> est surtout connu pour ses mensonges à répétition [1]. Les faits
> étaient suffisamment graves pour que, par deux fois, il soit
> contraint de démissionner de ses fonctions de
> ministre. Pour le seconder dans la lourde tâche qui
> l'attend, Mandelson vient de nommer au poste de
> Directeur de cabinet, Simon Fraser. Actuellement
> directeur du service Moyen-Orient au Ministère des
> affaires étrangères (Foreign Office), Fraser est un
> ancien membre du cabinet de Leon Brittan,
> Commissaire Européen au Commerce Extérieur dans les
> années 90.
>
> Pour les hommes d'affaires
> Américains et Européens, l'arrivée de ce duo à la
> Commission est une excellente nouvelle. Ils
> pourront, au besoin, les instruire directement sur
> les stratégies à adopter dans les négociations. Car
> Peter Mandelson et Simon Fraser sont tous deux
> membres de la très select Ditchley Foundations.
> Ditchley Foundations Si Simon Fraser n'apparaît
> qu'en tant que membre du Comité des Programmes,
> Peter Mandelson siège en revanche depuis plus de dix
> ans au conseil d'administration, au côté notamment
> de Leon Brittan. La fondation est actuellement
> présidée par l'ancien premier ministre britannique
> John Major,. Créée en 1958, dans le but de resserrer
> les liens transatlantiques, « Ditchley conduit
> aujourd'hui, un programme unique sur les affaires internationales ».
> Des petits groupes de quarante personnes, hommes d'affaire,
> politiques, militaires et journalistes, sont conviés environ 15 fois
> par an dans la somptueuse résidence de Ditchley Park, près
> d'Oxford. Les négociations de l'OMC figurent
> évidemment au menu de ce « programme unique ». Zone
> AGCS Ditchley Park est LA zone AGCS par excellence.
> C'est dans ce manoir du 18° siècle que fut adoptée,
> en 1979, la stratégie à mener pour inclure les
> services dans les négociations du GATT. Cette
> conférence fut présidée par Harry Freeman, haut
> cadre dirigeant d'American Express et Geza
> Feketekuty, négociateur américain au commerce. Les
> participants décidèrent de créer un lobby de
> services, la Coalition Américaine de Industries de
> Services ( USCSI ),qui verra le jour en 1982.
>
> 19 ans plus tard, en avril 1998,
> Robert Vastine, président de l'USCSI, organise une
> nouvelle conférence sur l'AGCS à Ditchley Park.
> Cette fois il est convenu de préparer la révision de
> l'AGCS, à travers les négociations « services 2000 »
> qui doivent débuter en février 2000. La réunion est
> présidée par Jaime Serra Puche, ancien ministre
> mexicain au commerce et négociateur en chef de
> l'ALENA. Puche avait été appelé à la rescousse, en
> 1993, pour finaliser la rédaction de l'AGCS. Autour
> de lui, 42 invités triés sur le volet. Les vétérans
> Harry Freeman et Geza Feketekuty sont fidèles au
> poste. Des hommes d'affaires très influents se
> concertent avec des technocrates européens et
> américains. Parmi eux, les négociateurs américains
> Jeff Lang, Joe Papovitch, et Andy Stoler. La
> Commission Européenne est représentée par Robert
> Madelin, Fernando Pereau de Penninck.. Figure
> également sur la liste des invités Florence Dobelle, représentante de
> la France à l'OMC, les fonctionnaires de l'OMC, David Hartridge,
> directeur de la division du commerce des services et Jill
> Courtney, président du groupe de travail sur l'AGCS.
> Durant ces trois jours, les conférenciers peaufinent
> leur stratégie. Il s'agit de mettre en oeuvre des «
> politiques de concurrence »pour libéraliser les
> marchés nationaux, déterminer le calendrier des
> négociations « AGCS 2000 », « parvenir à libéraliser
> à travers une stratégie délibérée de jurisprudences
> via les panels de l'OMC » et accélérer l'intégration
> euro-américaine à travers le Partenariat Economique
> Transatlantique. La conférence accouche d'un nouveau
> lobby de services, mondial cette fois, il prend pour
> nom Global Services Network [2].
>
> Peter Mandelson a bien appris la
> leçon. Durant son court séjour au Ministère du
> Commerce et de l'industrie ( juillet 98-novembre 98
> ) il convie les industriels à l'aider dans la
> préparation des négociations « AGCS 2000 » [3]. Ses
> propos sont sans ambiguïté : « les principales
> barrières au commerce des services résident dans les législations
> nationales. Les positions de négociation de l'Union Européenne
doivent
> refléter les priorités des hommes d'affaire du Royaume-Uni ».
>
>
> Quels projets le futur Commissaire
> Européen au Commerce extérieur emmènera t-il dans
> ses cartons à Bruxelles ? Quelle couleuvre tentera
> t-il de nous faire avaler ? Celui qui a autorisé la
> vente de Wessex Water à Enron ne risque guère
> d'avoir d'états d'âme sur la liquidation des
> services publics en Europe. Pour l'OMC et les
> lobbies d'affaire, à l'heure du bouclage de l'AGCS,
> Mandelson est l'homme de la circonstance. Pour les populations
> européennes et les parlementaires, ce n'est certainement pas le
moment
> de la « boucler ».
> source : Réseau des collectivités
> Hors AGCS
>
>
http://www.hors-agcs.org/agcs/article.php3?id_article=34
>
>
>
==============================================================
> WTO-Intl - the listserv the Our World Is Not For
> Sale network (OWINFS)
> If you have any questions/concerns, contact:
> Margrete at mranges@earthlink.net or Lisa
> lhoyos@citizen.org
FYI
--- Erik Wesselius wrote:
> To: SoS-WTO-EU@yahoogroups.com
> From: Erik Wesselius
> Date: Wed, 15 Sep 2004 12:38:58 +0200
> Subject: [SoS-WTO-EU] Public Affairs frim BKSH on
> Barroso Commission
>
> Interesting analysis of the incoming Commission by
> BKSH, the government
> relations arm of PR firm Burson-Marsteller available
> at:
>
http://www.euractiv.com/ndbtext/bksh/new_commission.pdf
>
> On Mandelson they write:
> Future Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson will be
> under exceedingly
> close scrutiny by the media. While certainly
> able and a trusted confidante of Tony Blair, his two
> resignations from
> ministerial office in the UK could undermine his
> tenure in office in Brussels. The British press is
> well known for its
> focus on the more irrelevant aspects of European
> Union politics: Mandelson could attract adverse
> attention and there is a
> risk that the British media will focus on other
> things than the significance of his job, which is an
> important one.
> Also, his predecessor Pascal Lamy – whatever one
> thinks of his politics – is brilliant. Lamy has a
> detailed and
> comprehensive grasp of his dossier and was Delors’
> Chef
> de Cabinet previously. As Delors’ sherpa in the G8
> during the 1990s and
> similarly a key architect of the original WTO
> agreement during the same decade, Lamy could hit the
> ground running as
> Trade Commissioner. The same can not
> be said of Mandelson who, while pro-European, is
> only so in a British
> sense and therefore in a way which may prevent
> him from fitting in well in Brussels circles. He is
> also stridently
> Atlanticist, which may also rest uneasily in some
> Commission circles and, arguably, more of a
> communicator (he
> master-minded the Labour Party’s return to
> government during the 1990s) than a master of
> detail.
Overview:
Commissioner-
Portfolio Chef de Cabinet Director-General
designate
José Manuel Durão João Vale de David O'Sullivan
President
Barroso [PT] Almeida [PT] [IE]
Margot Wallström Institutional Relations and Rolf Annerberg Jorge de Oliveira e
[SE] Communication Strategy [SE] Sousa [PT]
Günther Verheugen Peter Tempel Horst Reichenbach
Enterprise and Industry
[DE] [DE] [DE]
Benoit Le Bret François
Jacques Barrot [FR] Transport
[FR] Lamoureux [FR]
Administrative Affairs, Henrik Hololei Claude Chêne [FR]
Siim Kallas [EE]
Audit and Anti-Fraud [EE] (from 1.10)
Rocco Buttiglione Justice, Freedom and Jonathan Faull
?
[IT] Security [UK]
Benita Ferrero- External Relations and Patrick Child Eneko Landaburu
Waldner [AT] Neighbours Policy [UK] [ES]
Development and Sabine Weyand Theodorakis
Louis Michel [BE]
Humanitarian Aid [DE] Athanassios [EL]
Markos Kyprianou Health and Consumers Margaritis Robert Madelin
[CY] Protection Schinas [EL] [UK]
Employment, Social
Vladimir Spidla Ramiro Cibrian
Affairs, Equal Odile Quintin [FR]
[CZ] Uzal [ES]
Opportunities
Mariann Fischer Agriculture and Rural Claus Haugaard José Manuel Silva
Boel [DK] Development Sørensen [DK] Rodriguez [ES]
Timo Pesonen Fabrizio Barbaso
Olli Rehn [FI] Enlargement
[FI] [IT]
Nancy Kontou
Stavros Dimas [EL] Environment Catherine Day [EI]
[EL]
Tamas Szucs François
László Kovács [HU] Energy
[HU] Lamoureux [FR]
Charlie McCreevy Internal Market and Alexander Schaub
?
[EI] Services [DE]
Taxation and Customs Andris Piebalgs Robert Verrue
Ingrida Udre [LV]
Union [LV] [FR]
Financial Programming Stephen Quest Luis Romero
Dalia Grybauskaite
and Budget [UK] Requena [SP]
[LT]
Viviane Reding Information Society and Johannes Fabio Colasanti
[LU] Media Laitenberger [DE] [IT]
Fisheries and Maritime Patrick Tabone Jörgen Holmquist
Joe Borg [MT]
Affairs [MT] [SE]
Ben Smulders
Neelie Kroes [NL] Competition Philip Lowe [UK]
[NL]
Graham Meadows
Danuta Hübner [PL] Regional Policy Joost Korte [NL]?
[UK]
Education, Training, Miroslav Adamis Nikolaus van der
Jan Figel [SK]
Culture, Multilinguism [SK] Pas [DE]
Achilleas Mitsos
Janez Potocnik [SI] Science and Research Peter Dröll [DE]
[EL]
Joaquin Almunia Economic and Monetary Maria Luisa Klaus Regling
[ES] Affairs Lamela [ES] [DE]
Peter Mandelson Simon Fraser Morgens Peter
Trade
[UK] [UK] Carl [DK]
An interesting piece on the composition of Mandelson's cabinet. Apart from Mandelson's
tactical appointments of French aides, the article mentions that "Mr Mandelson is also
expected to include his long-time ally Roger Liddle, who until recently served as adviser
on Europe in the Downing Street Policy Unit."
A BBC News article, dated 26 October, 2001 and appended at the bottom of this mail,
discusses Liddle's role in the 1998 cash-for-access "lobbygate" scandal.
It was dynamite stuff, one of the early "Tony's cronies", New Labour sleaze scandals, seriously
destabilising to Downing Street - not to mention Mr Liddle's own position in the policy unit there.
On the gmwatch website I find this information:
In the late 1980s Dick Taverne and Roger Liddle founded the consultancy firm
Prima Europe. In 1990 Prima published The case for Biotechnology , a
paper authored by Taverne. Liddle and Taverne were joined on Prima's board in
1996 by Derek Draper. Prima's clients included Unilever, RTZ, BNFL, and Glaxo
Wellcome. In April 1998 Lord Taverne resigned from Prima, as a
result of lobby-firm rules prohibiting employment of sitting MPs and
peers, after its merger with GPC Market Access. GPC's clients included Pfizer,
Novartis and SmithKline Beecham. Three months after Taverne's departure his
former Prima co-directors Derek Draper and Roger Liddle were at the centre of
the 'lobbygate' 'cash for access' scandal .
Erik Wesselius
Corporate Europe Observatory
Mandelson appoints French aides to win influence in Paris
By Stephen Castle in Brussels
The Independent, 08 September 2004
Peter Mandelson, Britain's new European commissioner, has lined up a Frenchwoman as
his official press officer, as part of a concerted offensive to boost his contacts and
influence in France, where he is unpopular.
Claude Veron-Reville, a highly rated Eurocrat, will be the second senior French adviser
Mr Mandelson has chosen. The appointment follows his recent coup in poaching his
deputy chef de cabinet from the team of France's European commissioner, Jacques
Barrot.
Mr Mandelson, who is due to take up his new role in November, is appointing the group
of close advisers to help him manage his trade portfolio.
Technically, Mr Mandelson can only put forward his preferred candidate for the job as
the appointment has to be made by the European Commission's chief press spokesperson,
a position which has yet to be filled. However, the move to recruit a French official is
seen in Brussels as an astute move for Mr Mandelson. France is traditionally hostile to
measures that could undermine the Common Agricultural Policy, deregulate industry or
hamper its right to subsidise its film industry. That may make Paris difficult to handle for
the incoming trade commissioner who does not speak French fluently.
Ms Veron-Reville, who is now an official working on EU policy in North Africa, once
worked as a lobbyist for French farming interests. Half-French and half-Corsican, she is a
graduate of the College of Europe, a breeding ground for future Eurocrats, and speaks
excellent English. She has good credentials for selling his liberalising economic message
to the French media and also fulfils one important criteria laid down by the new
Commission president, Jose Manuel Barroso, that each spokesperson should be of a
different nationality to their commissioner.
Nevertheless, her job will be tough. Mr Mandelson's appointment was controversial in
France where, as a close ally of Tony Blair, he is seen as pro-American and ultra-liberal
on economic policy.
One EU source said: "It is a smart move to get a French spokeswoman because the
French are the ones likely to kick up a fuss for Mandelson, on agriculture, intellectual
property rights and on trade rows with the US."
Meanwhile, Mr Mandelson's deputy chef de cabinet is to be Denis Redonnet, another
highly rated French official. He worked for France's outgoing EU trade commissioner,
Pascal Lamy. Mr Redonnet was expected to join the cabinet of the French commissioner.
Mr Mandelson's chef de cabinet, Simon Fraser, also has good contacts within the French
establishment, having served as political counsellor at the British embassy in Paris. He
also has excellent experience in the EU trade field.
Mr Mandelson is also expected to include his long-time ally Roger Liddle, who until
recently served as adviser on Europe in the Downing Street Policy Unit. It remains
unclear whether he will appoint an official to deal with the British press.
By giving his team a strong Francophone flavour, Mr Mandelson has mirrored the tactics
of his direct predecessor in the trade portfolio, Mr Lamy. He poached a highly rated UK
official, Matthew Baldwin, to serve as his deputy chef de cabinet as well as a British
spokesman, Anthony Gooch.
Friday, 26 October, 2001, 12:23 GMT 13:23 UK
Roger Liddle, centre stage once more
By Nyta Mann
BBC News Online political correspondent
Downing Street adviser, SDP defector and long-time friend of Peter Mandelson, Roger Liddle has a small
but pronounced habit of finding his private remarks splashed over the newspapers.
His reported comments on a supposed "target date" for a referendum on joining the euro are only mildly
troublesome for the government.
In fact they serve its purpose in technically keeping alive the prospect of a referendum before the next
election, while many commentators believe it highly unlikely a poll will happen in this parliament.
That he is very much a pro-single currency Europhile is also far from being any kind of secret.
In 1996 he co-authored with Mr Mandelson The Blair Revolution. In it the two men championed a
European Union "of deeper economic integration among nation-states bound together by common rules and
united by a clear social purpose".
On the euro, they wrote that "the single currency is the natural complement to a single market".
'Lobbygate' role
But Mr Liddle's after-dinner comments on the subject are mild stuff compared with his biggest outing
centre-stage from behind the scenes at Downing Street.
That came in the summer of 1998 when the Observer newspaper broke the cash-for-access "lobbygate"
scandal.
Derek Draper, the onetime aide and bag-carrier to Mr Mandelson, and who by this point was making big
bucks working as a lobbyist trading on his Labour connections, was caught telling a businessman that in
exchange for money he would open government doors to him.
The "businessman" turned out to be an undercover journalist and one door Draper showed him to was that
of Roger Liddle, Tony Blair's Downing Street adviser on Europe.
Asked by the "businessman" to demonstrate his close connections with the people running the country,
Draper pressed Mr Liddle into service.
Mr Liddle was quoted telling the journalist: "There is a circle and Derek is part of the circle ... Whenever
you are ready, tell me what you want, who you want to meet, and Derek and I will make the call for you."
It was dynamite stuff, one of the early "Tony's cronies", New Labour sleaze scandals, seriously
destabilising to Downing Street - not to mention Mr Liddle's own position in the policy unit there.
The consensus is that it was only the fact that his reported remark was not tape recorded that saved him
being sacrificed.
In the thick of it
Mr Liddle is far from a stranger to being in the thick of things, though.
He was a special adviser to Bill Rodgers - also, of course, later an SDP defector - when he was transport
secretary in the 1970s Callaghan government.
A fellow Lambeth councillor with Peter Mandelson, Mr Liddle was a founder member of the breakaway
SDP in 1981, serving on its national committee until 1986.
He contested the parliamentary seat of Vauxhaull for the SDP in the 1983 general election and Fulham in
the 1986 by-election.
He joined the Social and Liberal Democrats after the 1988 merger between the Liberals and all but the
Owenite rump of the SDP, and fought Hertfordshire North for the Liberal Democrats in the 1992 election.
Mandelson's co-author
He was a member of the Lib Dems' federal policy committee for most of the period between 1988 and 1995
and was the author of the party's 1994 Euro-elections manifesto.
He defected back to New Labour once Mr Blair was in place as leader. Throughout his passage through his
many parties, though, he remained close friends with Mr Mandelson.
In the June general election, following the former cabinet minister's second fall from grace, Mr Liddle
helped him campaign in Hartlepool.
Needless to say, both these things - his double defection and matey-ness with the "prince of darkness" -
mean he is a deeply suspicious figure as far as some non-Blairite parts of the Labour Party are concerned.
If in the future his leaked private comments ever do succeed in getting him the sack from Number Ten, the
celebrations would not be confined to Conservatives.
Consistent with the colourful nature of the Candidate Commissioner’s personality, the
Mandelson’s Cabinet is churning out some intriguing political gossip. The appointment of Denis
Redonnet offers some measure of continuity between the incoming and outgoing Cabinets.
Denis handles EPA issues in Commissioner Lamy’s Cabinet but is bereft of both communication
skills and personality. His appointment confirms a suspicion that poor temperament (and work)
in the Commission tends to be rewarded with a promotion.
Unity of nations forgotten in scramble for EU top jobs
National fiefdoms and sexual politics come before European interests as countries lobby to secure positions for
their citizens, says George Parker
Published: September 15 2004 20:57 | Last updated: September 15 2004 20:57
Brussels has become the scene of a medieval hiring fair with a sharp-suited, international twist - a chaotic
scramble for some of the European Union's most influential jobs.
National rivalries, sexual politics and betrayal add to the febrile atmosphere as Europe's multilingual elite
fights for fewer than 200 jobs in the cabinets of 25 new European commissioners.
It is the chance to work on some of the biggest challenges facing the EU, and to test one's political skills at a
high level. The gross annual salary - €156,000 a year for top jobs - is perhaps another factor.
For many, this is an excruciating period of waiting as new commissioners hand-pick the six or seven
members of their inner team with whom they will share their secrets and political battles over the next five
years.
This is not like any other hiring process. Commissioners face not only a barrage of CVs from individuals, but
also intense lobbying by national capital cities keen to get their citizens into the top jobs.
Theoretically, the Commission should rise above national politics. This unique executive body is supposed
to define the "general European interest".
But cabinet appointments are deemed too important to be left to the whims of the 25 new commissioners,
despatched to Brussels from each of the member states.
Britain, France and Germany helpfully supply the newly arrived commissioners with lists of 40 or so possible
candidates they might like to put into their team.
"Some of the embassies even apply for jobs on your behalf," says one person on the jobs merry-go-round. "I
had a rejection letter yesterday from a commissioner - I didn't even know I'd applied for the job."
High national politics are at stake. The Commission wields power in a host of sensitive areas, including
labour market regulation, the environment, budgetary discipline, trade and competition. "It's quite simple,"
explains one EU diplomat. "Member states want people in key cabinets to help us get our views across."
Cabinet members are therefore seen as powerful lobbyists in the decision-making process. And since all 25
commissioners in the "college" have a vote, the bigger the national network, the greater the influence.
It is also helpful to have what another EU diplomat calls "spies" working in the Commission, passing on
warnings about perceived threats to national life.
This sort of behaviour is despised inside the Commission. National allegiances are supposed to be ditched
in favour of a new euro-identity. Direct references to one's own nationality are taboo, buried under the
euphemism "the country I know best".
Those cabinet members suspected of passing brown envelopes to their national capitals are unofficially
blacklisted, and are having problems finding a job in the next commission, which starts on November 1.
Such leakers are more likely to be political appointees brought in by commissioners, rather than the career
eurocrats who must take at least three of the cabinet posts. "Gone native," sniffs one diplomat about an
unhelpful fonctionnaire.
Last month José Manuel Barroso, the new Commission president, laid down revised rules to stop
commissioners turning their cabinets into national fiefdoms - a feature of the nepotistic commission of
Jacques Santer, which collapsed in 1999.
The head of cabinet or the deputy must be of a different nationality to the commissioner, there should be
members from at least three nationalities, and there should be a gender balance.
Peter Mandelson, the British commissioner designated for the trade job, has appointed a Frenchman as the
deputy head of cabinet, seen in London as a flourishing of the entente cordiale.
However, Jacques Barrot, the incoming French transport commissioner, has failed to reciprocate. "He says
we haven't supplied anyone of the right calibre," complains one British diplomat. "Maybe Britain doesn't have
any transport experts," observes a French counterpart, sharing his compatriots' disdain for the UK's decrepit
public transport.
The appointment process is not yet complete, but already stories of heartache and betrayal reverberate
around Brussels. Some commissioners have allegedly promised jobs to more than one candidate, leaving a
trail of disappointment.
Others like Ireland's Charlie McCreevy, still hold down full-time cabinet posts at home and are more
concerned about finding somewhere to live in Brussels than appointing their team.
That means hope remains for those still on the shelf, but the last round of appointments will be bitterly
contested.
These are stressful times. "You've got most hope now if you're a woman," grumbles one male Brussels
jobseeker. "They're all struggling to meet the gender equality rule."