Management merry-go-round

Newcomers frozen out again.

Sweden will today name its next permanent representative to the European Union. Christian Danielsson, the current holder of the post, is returning to the European Commission on 1 January, after two and a half years on leave of absence. 

When he left he was a director in the directorate-general for EU enlargement, and he lined himself up with a job in that policy area: three weeks ago, the Commission approved his appointment as a special adviser to the European commissioner for enlargement, to begin on 1 January. But on Tuesday (14 December) the commissioners over-rode that appointment by naming him as one of three new deputy directors-general in the secretariat-general (or deputy secretaries-general). So Štefan Füle, the commissioner for enlargement, must look elsewhere for his special advice.

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The Commission, whilst announcing a score of senior management appointments, of which Danielsson’s was just one, boasted that it was promoting candidates from the newer member states.

Curiously, it saw no need to point out that none of the three deputy secretaries-general is from one of those 12 states. Those jobs, at the centre of the administration, deputising for Secretary-General Catherine Day (Ireland, which joined the EU in 1973), have gone to Danielsson (Sweden, class of 1995), Marianne Klingbeil (Germany, 1957) and Michel Servoz (France, 1957).

It would not do to let the newcomers get too close to the action.