#EuropeanCommission appoints new secretary-general

After more than 32 years at the service of the European Commission, the current Secretary-General Alexander Italianer, has decided to retire from the European Commission. As a result, and on the proposal of President Jean-Claude Juncker, the College has decided to appoint Martin Selmayr (pictured), the current head of cabinet of the president, as the new secretary-general of the Commission.

This decision will take effect on 1 March. At the same time, President Juncker has decided that his current deputy head of cabinet, Clara Martinez Alberola, will become his new head of cabinet – the first-ever female head of cabinet of a Commission president. President Juncker’s current diplomatic adviser, Richard Szostak, will become his new deputy head of cabinet.

European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said: "This morning, Alexander Italianer confirmed to me his wish to retire as secretary-general of the Commission as of 1 March. I want to express my deep gratitude to him for decades of loyal service to the European Commission and over the past three years to me as its President. I truly appreciated working with such an experienced and knowledgeable secretary-general and I want to thank him for his skillful steer of our administration, as well as for having agreed to stay on for another month to ensure a smooth transition. I am also glad that he agreed to continue to advise me, after 1 April, as special adviser on strategic issues on the EU’s agenda, in particular the Multiannual Financial Framework and Brexit Preparedness."

Responding to the appointment of Martin Selmayr,  Syed Kamall MEP, co-chairman of the European Conservatives and Reformists Group, said: "How does the Commission expect people to believe that the EU is capable of change and listening to the voters when the process for appointing to top positions is so opaque?

"The Commission should be looking at ways to make Brussels more transparent and democratic, yet this appointment resembles nothing more than jobs for the boys.

"Perhaps the most worrying thing is that the Commission doesn't seem to even realize why this is a problem."

Further comment came from UK Tory MEP Amjad Bashir who said: “The appointment of German lawyer Martin Selmayr to the role of European Commission Secretary General should be a wake up call to anyone who still fondly believes the European Union capable of change. The appointment is said to have been a late addition to the meeting agenda, curtailing the opportunities for any commisioners who may have wished to mount an objection.Selmayr is widely seen as the real muscle and brains behind the Juncker presidency.

“The appointment means he will remain on the Commission executive after the 2019 European election and continue as a dominant figure in Brussels regardless of who becomes the next Commission president.

“You have to wonder how the Commission expect Yorkshire people or anyone else to believe them capable of reform or of listening to the public when they make appointments like this in such a cloak and dagger way.A prime example of jobs for the boys and contempt for transparency and democracy."