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The Commission’s senior management
An overview of the summer reshuffle
A Cicero Group analysis
A p r i l
2015
1
The final piece of the jigsaw
This summer will see a reshuffle of the senior management of
the European Commission, which represents the final major
change of Commission personnel since the start of the new
mandate.
The composition of the top tier of the European Commission’s
management – Secretary General, Directors General and
Deputy Directors General – represents a delicate balancing
act of experience, nationality and now gender. President JeanClaude Juncker has requested that one female candidate is
included on the shortlist for each of the top posts. Meeting
this request will be a particular challenge. Of the thirty five
Director General posts (including the Secretary General), only
six are held by women. Furthermore, there are only nine women
holding top management positions (Secretary General, Director
General and Deputy Director General).
Helena Walsh
Executive Director
A further consideration is the geographical distribution of senior
posts. The top posts are currently dominated by officials from
the largest Member States with Germany holding five Director
General positions, the UK and Spain holding four each and
France three. A large reshuffle will inevitably lead to calls for
a better distribution of top posts and we can expect to see
candidates from outside of the largest Member States making
progress in the new structure.
Finally, although President Juncker has publically opposed the
practice, it is common for Directors General to be reshuffled
after five years in post. Juncker has said that he wants to
preserve good working relationships and does not want to
see change for the sake of it, but it is still anticipated that a
sizeable number of those who have served for one mandate in
a directorate will be moved on.
James Hughes
Account Director
By the end of April, each Commissioner will submit to President
Juncker a shortlist of three candidates for the post of Director
General. This shortlist can include the incumbent, but should
include a female candidate. The lists will be discussed by the
Vice Presidents in May before the appointments are confirmed
in June
The reshuffle will be a complicated balancing act. Our briefing
aims to bring some clarity to the process – we hope you find
it useful.
Alexander Kneepkens
Senior Account Executive
Sebastian Damberg-Ott
Account Executive
2
Reshuffling the European Commission’s top brass
April
May
June
Before summer
Commissioners to submit three
names including one woman
Juncker and Vice Presidents
discuss submitted names
Juncker to finalise positions
Reshuffle to be complete
A three dimensional puzzle
Gender balance
29 vs 6
Male vs Female
Directors General
32 vs 3
Male vs Female
Deputy Directors
General
19
vs 9
Male vs Female
Commissioners
17.1%
vs
40%
% of female Directors General
vs goal by 2019
Time in office
12
Directors General in post
for >5 years
10
Directors General in post
for <2 years
Member State balance
DE - 5
UK & ES - 4
FR - 3
IT, NL, BE, PT & GR - 2
Top 9 Member States currently
best represented in Director
General numbers
3
Detailed overview
Commissioner
Phil Hogan
Irish
Agriculture & Rural
Development
Directorate
General
Agriculture and Rural
Development (AGRI)
Budget (BUDG)
Kristalina Georgieva
Bulgarian
Budget & Human
Resources
Director General & Deputies
Nationality &
Time in post
Jerzy Bogdan Plewa, Director General
Polish, 2 years
Mihail Dumitru, Deputy
Romanian, 1 year
Joost Korte, Deputy
Dutch, 1 year
Rudolf Moegele, Deputy
German, 4 years
Monique Pariat, Deputy
French, 1 year
Nadia Maria Calviño Santa Maria, Director General
Spanish, 1 year
Manfred Kraff, Deputy
German, 3 years
Human Resources and
Irene Souka, Director General
Security (HR)
European Anti-Fraud
Office (OLAF)
Translation (DGT)
Greek, 6 years
Giovanni Kessler, Director General
Italian, 4 years
Rytis Martikonis, Director General
Lithuanian, 3 years
Christos Ellinides, Deputy
Cypriot, < 1 year
Male
Female
4
Detailed overview
Commissioner
Miguel Arias Cañete
Spanish
Climate Action & Energy
Günther Oettinger
German
Digital Economy & Society
Directorate
General
Director General & Deputies
Nationality &
Time in post
Climate Action (CLIMA)
Jos Delbeke, Director General
Belgian, 5 years
Dominique Ristori, Director General
French, 1 year
Christopher Wingfield Jones, Deputy
British, 1 year
Gerassimos Thomas, Deputy
Greek, < 1 year
Robert Madelin, Director General
British, 5 years
Energy (ENER)
Communications
Networks, Content and Zoran Stančič, Deputy
Technology (CNECT)
Informatics (DIGIT)
Margrethe Vestager
Danish
Competition
Competition (COMP)
Slovenian, 6 years
Roberto Viola, Deputy
Italian, 3 years
Stephen Quest, Director General
British, 2 years
Francisco García Morán, Deputy
Spanish, < 1 year
Alexander Italiener, Director General
Dutch, 5 years
Gert Jan Koopman, Deputy
Dutch, 5 years
Cecilio Madero Villareio, Deputy
Spanish, 4 years
5
Detailed overview
Commissioner
Pierre Moscovici
French
Economic and Financial
Affairs, Taxation and
Customs
Directorate
General
Marianne Thyssen
Belgian
Employment, Social
Affairs, Skills and Labour
Mobility
Nationality &
Time in post
Marco Buti, Director General
Italian, 7 years
Economic and Financial
Servaas Deroose, Deputy
Services (ECFIN)
Taxation and Customs
Union (TAXUD)
Tibor Navracsics
Hungarian
Education, Culture, Youth
and Sport
Director General & Deputies
Education and Culture
(EAC)
Joint Research Centre
(JRC)
Employment, Social
Affairs and Inclusion
(EMPL)
Eurostat (ESTAT)
Johannes Hahn
Neighbourhood
Austrian
European Neighbourhood and Enlargement
Negotiations (NEAR)
Policy & Enlargement
Negotiations
Beligan, 5 years
Maarten Verwey, Deputy
Dutch, 4 years
Heinz Zourek, Director General
Austrian, 3 years
Xavier Prats Monné, Director General
Spanish, < 1 year
Jens Nymand-Christensen, Deputy
Danish, < 1 year
Vladimir Šucha, Director General
Slovak, 1 year
Michel Servoz, Director General
French, 1 year
Zoltán Kazatsay, Deputy
Hungarian, 4 years
Walter Radermacher, Director General
German, 7 years
Mariana Mihaylova Kotzeva, Deputy
Bulgarian, < 1 year
Christian Danielsson, Director General
Swedish, 2 years
6
Detailed overview
Commissioner
Karmenu Vella
Maltese
Environment, Maritime
Affairs and Fisheries
Directorate
General
Director General & Deputies
Nationality &
Time in post
Environment (ENV)
Karl Friederich Falkenberg, Director General
German, 6 years
Maritime Affairs and
Fisheries (MARE)
Lowri Evans, Director General
British, 5 years
Jonathan Faull, Director General
British, 5 years
Olivier Guersent, Deputy
French, < 1 year
Ladislav Miko, (Acting) Director General
Czech, < 1 year
Martin Seychell, Deputy
Maltese, 4 years
Clause Haugaard Sørensen, Director General
Danish, 4 years
Daniel Calleja Y Crespo, Director General
Spanish, 3 years
Antti Ilmari Peltomäki, Deputy
Finnish, 3 years
Pierre Delsaux, Deputy
Belgian, < 1 year
Phlippe Taverne, Director General
Belgian, 3 years
Jonathan Hill
British
Financial Stability,
Financial Services and
Capital Markets Union
Financial Stability,
Financial Services and
Capital Markets Union
(FISMA)
Vytenis Andriukaitis
Lithuanian
Health & Food Safety
Health and Food Safety
(SANTE)
Christos Stylianides
Cypriot
Humanitarian Aid & Crisis
Management
Humanitarian Aid and
Civil Protection (ECHO)
Elżbieta Bieńkowska
Polish
Internal Market, Industry,
Entrepreneurship and
SMEs
Internal Market,
Industry,
Entrepreneurship and
SMEs (GROW)
Audit Progress
Committee (APC)
Internal Audit Service
(IAS)
7
Detailed overview
Commissioner
Neven Mimica
Croatian
International Cooperation
& Development
Directorate
General
International
Cooperation and
Development (DEVCO)
Director General & Deputies
Nationality &
Time in post
Fernando Frutuoso de Melo, Director General
Portuguese, 2 years
Marcus Cornaro, Deputy
Austrian, 3 years
Klaus Rudischhauser, Deputy
German, 3 years
Secretariat General (SG) Marianne Klingbeil, Deputy
German, 4 years
Věra Jourová
Czech
Justice, Consumers and
Gender Equality
Justice and Consumers
Paraskevi Michou, (Acting) Director General
(JUST)
Greek, < 1 year
Dimitris Avramopoulos
Greek
Migration, Home Affairs
and Citizenship
Migration and Home
Affairs (HOME)
Matthias Ruete, Director General
German, 1 year
Violeta Bulc
Slovenian
Transport
Mobility and Transport
(MOVE)
João Aguiar Machado, Director General
Portuguese, 1 year
Walter Deffaa, Director General
German, 3 years
Nicholas Martyn, Deputy
British, 4 years
Normunds Popens, Deputy
Latvian, 4 years
Corina Creţu
Romanian
Regional Policy
Regional and Urban
Policy (REGIO)
8
Detailed overview
Commissioner
Carlos Moedas
Portuguese
Research, Science and
Innovation
Cecilia Malmström
Swedish
Trade
Directorate
General
Research and
Innovation (RTD)
Trade (TRADE)
Director General & Deputies
Nationality &
Time in post
Robert-Jan Smits, Director General
Dutch, 5 years
Wolfgang Burtscher, Deputy
Austrian, 6 years
Rudolf Walter Strohmeier, Deputy
German, 5 years
Jean-Luc Demarty, Director General
French, 4 years
Raffaele Mauro Petriccione, Deputy
Italian, < 1 year
Communication (COMM) Timo Pesonen, (Acting) Director General
Catherine Day, Secretary General
Secretariat General (SG) Henrik Hololei, Deputy
Jean-Claude Juncker
Luxembourgish
President
Marianne Klingbeil, Deputy
European Political
Anne Mettler, Director General
Strategy Centre (EPSC)
Legal Service (SJ)
Finnish, < 1 year
Irish, 10 years
Estonian, 2 years
German, 4 years
Male
Female
German/Swedish, < 1 year
Luis Romero Requena, Director General
Spanish, 6 years
Patrick Hetsch, Deputy
French, 5 years
Johannes Laitenberger, Deputy
Germany, < 1 year
9
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