Today's Movers & Shakers are about: the new and the outgoing MEPs, the Paradise Papers, the MEP Awards 2018, the new heads of missions to the EU, latest appointments in the European Commission and in public affairs, the Slovenian president, Brexit and more.
European Parliament:
Incoming:
Ivari PADAR (S&D, EE) joined the Parliament as member, replacing Marju LAURISTIN. Mr PADAR has previously served as an MEP from 2009 to 2014.
Thomas WAITZ (Greens/EFA, AT) joined as well, replacing Ulrike LUNACEK.
Jörg MEUTHEN (EFDD, DE) will replace Beatrix VON STORCH, who was elected as member to the German Bundestag. Mr MEUTHEN is currently chairman of AfD in Baden-Württemberg and leader of the party.
Outgoing:
Elisabeth KÖSTINGER (EPP, AT) left her seat to assume the Office of the President of the national council in Austria.
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Composition of the committee and delegations:
Substitute:
Tanja Fajon (S&D, SI) left the Delegation to the EU-Moldova parliamentary association committee (D-MD) and joined the delegation to the EU-Serbia stabilisation and association parliamentary committee (D-RS).
MEPs' news:
Louis MICHEL (ALDE, BE) announced he will most probably quit politics after the 2019 elections.
Nikos ANDROULAKIS (S&D, EL) is through to the second round of the leadership elections for Greece's new centre-left party.
Latest news:
Paradise Papers: MEPs from across the political divide have joined forces in calling for a permanent committee of inquiry into such tax dodging. The deputies said the Paradise Papers “show how the super-rich and multinationals have used lawyers to implement tax avoidance schemes which enable money to be moved around the globe undetected and untaxed.”
Plenary session:
MEPs are in Strasbourg from Monday 13 to Thursday 16 November.
MEP Awards 2018:
Our colleagues at the Parliament Magazine have just announced the judging panel for the 2018 MEP awards. The panel will once again be chaired by the managing editor, Brian JOHNSON. His fellow judges are:
Anna Lisa BONI, EUROCITIES
Andrew DUFF, the Spinelli Group
Willy FAUTRÉ, Human Rights Without Frontiers Int’l
James HOLTUM, Rasmussen Global
Shada ISLAM, Friends of Europe
Colin MACKAY, Brussels Writing Bureau
Katie OWENS, European Committee of the Regions
Find out more about the judging panel here and don’t forget to nominate the MEPs you feel have done outstanding work over the past 12 months. Nominate here.
Get to know:
Cecilia MALMSTRÖM in 5 questions.
Cecilia MALMSTRÖM (SE) is Commissioner for trade. She was previously Commissioner for home affairs from 2010 to 2014, Swedish minister for EU affairs from 2006 to 2010 and as an MEP from 1999 to 2006.
European Commission:
Directorates-General:
Directorate-General for International Cooperation and Development (DEVCO):
Deputy Director General's Office: Klaus RUDISCHHAUSER departs from his position as Deputy Director General (with responsibility for Directorates D, E, F and G), leaving Marjeta JAGER (Deputy Director General responsible for Directorates B, C and R, TF Knowledge, Performance and Results) as position-holder on an acting basis.
Directorate A – International Cooperation and Development Policy: Gustavo MARTIN PRADA leaves his position as Director, leaving Head of Unit A1 (SDGs, Policy and Coherence) Gaspar FRONTINI as Acting Director. Mr MARTIN PRADA assumes an advisory position within DEVCO.
Directorate B – People and Peace: Fabienne VAN DEN EEDE takes over as Acting Head of Unit B1 (Gender Equality, Human Rights and Democratic Governance) from Maria Manuela CABRAL. Ms. CABRAL, Head of Unit B2 (Resilience, Fragility), held the role on an interim basis; Ms. VAN DEN EEDE was previously a member of the EU Delegation to Zambia.
Directorate D – EU-Africa Relations, East and Southern Africa: Marzia PIETRELLI, Deputy Head of Unit D4 (Regional Sector Policy Analysis) becomes acting head of that unit. The position was previously vacant.
Directorate G – Latin America and Caribbean: Milko VAN GOOL, Deputy Head of Unit G3 (Regional Sector Policy Analysis) becomes acting head of that unit. The position was previously vacant.
Directorate R – Resources: Carlo EICH departs as Head of Unit R1 (Planning, Budget, Reporting), leaving his former Deputy, Yves TIELEMANS, as Head of Unit on an acting basis.
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Secretariat-General:
Directorate C – Smart Regulation and Work Programme: Following Mona BJORKLUND's departure for DG BUDG, Director John WATSON steps in as Acting Head of Unit C2 (Impact Assessment).
European Institute of Security Studies (EUISS):
Gustav LINDSTRÖM was appointed as the new director and Florence GAUB as deputy, with a special responsibility as research coordinator.
Missions to the EU:
Donald TUSK received letters of credentials to officially install the following as Ambassadors, Head of Mission:
Nigeria: H.E Ms Nonye UDO, replaced Suleiman UMAR.
China: H.E. Mr Zhang MING, replaced Yang YANYI.
Dominican Republic: H.E. Aníbal DE CASTRO, replaced Alejandro González PONS.
Committee of the Regions (CoR):
Members:
Paul WATSON (PES, UK), leader of Sunderland City Council and chair of the UK delegation in the CoR, sadly passed away at the age of 63.
Rapporteurs:
Micaela FANELLI (PES, IT) was appointed as rapporteur on the trade package.
Andrian TEBAN (EPP, RO) was appointed as rapporteur on the public procurement.
Public affairs:
Got any new appointment you would like us to include in our next newsletter? Contact Ifigenia Balkoura!
Concilius AG: Sabine PELLKOFER started a new role as member of the board of management and public affairs executive for European business in Brussels, as of 1 October. Ms PELLKOFER worked in the European Parliament and the European Commission for several years, and also headed up the Evonik Industries AG Brussels Corporate Representation Office for 10 years. In her new role, she will be focusing on further promoting a fruitful cooperation between the European institutions and the manufacturing industry in Europe.
European Council for Construction Research, Development and Innovation (ECCREDI): Sue ARUNDALE, director of technical and environmental affairs of FIEC was elected as the new president, having previously served as Vice-President.
European Environmental Bureau (EEB): Jouni NISSINEN, Head of the Environmental Policy Unit at the Finnish Association for Nature Conservation was re-elected president for a one-year mandate, having previously shared the presidency with Mikael KARLSSON, who was unanimously elected as Honorary member of the organisation.
European Steel Association (EUROFER): Bartosz NIENALTOWSKI joined the team a public affairs manager. Prior to this, he was senior consultant at Teneo Cabinet DN for three years.
International Marine Contractors Association (IMCA): Tim HELSDON joined the team as technical adviser.
IRU: is opening its new office located in Avenue de Cortenbergh 71 in Brussels, on 6 December.
Supply Chain Initiative: Michael HUTCHINGS was appointed as its independent chair and Fabienne ECKERT joined the team as project manager.
News in a nutshell:
Brexit: The sixth round of negotiations was kicked off on Thursday 9 November. The UK government had previously published a new document setting out how the EU citizens seeking to stay in Britain after Brexit will be supported through an application process. However, the European Parliament’s Brexit steering committee of the European Parliament rejected the offer, saying, that “we don’t recognise reports suggesting that a deal on citizens' rights is almost finalized. There are still major issues that have to be resolved.”
Speaking at the end of the negotiations, EU chief negotiator Michel BARNIER said that the UK must clarify its position on the "divorce bill" within two weeks for talks to move on to the future trading relationship by December.
In an interview with the Journal du Dimanche newspaper, Mr BARNIER made clear he was not looking for a 'no deal' outcome, but said both sides must prepare for the eventuality.
On Friday 10 November, Theresa MAY set out the date and time of exiting the EU on 29 March 2019 at 11pm.
The UK government suffered a second blow within a week, after the international development secretary Priti PATEL resigned amid her secret meetings with Israeli officials during a family holiday over the summer. European leaders are reportedly concerned that Theresa MAY's "fragile" Government could collapse before the new year.
A vote to determine the future locations of the two EU agencies, the European Medicines Agency (EMA) and the European Banking Agency (EBA) will take place during the General Affairs Council on 20 November.
Glyphosate: Member states have failed to agree on the European Commission’s proposal to renew the herbicide glyphosate’s license for five years. In a vote at a meeting in Brussels, 14 countries endorsed the Commission’s plan, nine voted against and five abstained, falling short of the 16 countries and 65 per cent of the region’s population needed to reach a qualified majority. Read more.
Interns in the EU institutions: A new initiative is set to be launched to give interns working in the EU institutions a chance to rate their employers. The move is timed to coincide with International Interns’ Day (IID) on Friday, which sees events in Belgrade, Brussels, Budapest, Geneva, Ljubljana, Montréal, Paris and Prague. It also comes amid the ongoing controversy about sexual harassment at work, highlighted by the Harvey Weinstein scandal and cases involving various politicians which have come to light in recent days. Read more.
Slovenia: Borut PAHOR was re-elected as president for a second term in the runoff that was held on Sunday 12 November.
