European Parliament:
Substitutes of the Committees, Subcommittees and the Delegations:
Victor NEGRESCU (S&D, RO) joined the Committee on Petitions (PETI).
Harald VILIMSKY (ENF, AT) left the Committee on Foreign Affairs (AFET) and joined the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs (ECON).
Nicolas BAY (ENF, FR) left the Subcommittee on Human Rights (DROI).
Gianluca BUONANNO (ENF, IT) left the Delegation to the EU-Russia Parliamentary Cooperation Committee (D-RU) and joined the Delegation for relations with the countries of South Asia (D-SAS) and the Committee on Development (DEVE).
Special Committees:
The Conference of Presidents postponed on Wednesday the decision to prolong the mandate of the Special Committee on Tax Rulings and Measures Similar in Nature or Effect (TAXE).
Political parties:
European Green Party: Reinhard BÜTIKOFER (DE) and Monica FRASSONI re-elected co-chairs of the party.
Intergroups:
The Friends of Vietnam Group was launched last week in the European Parliament. Jan ZAHRADIL (ECR, CZ) appointed as Chairman of the group and Berd LANGE (S&D, DE) as Vice-Chaiman.
European Commission:
Cabinets:
Corina Creţu’s team: Loredana VON BUTTLAR joined as a new Member of Cabinet.
Directorates General:
Budget (BUDG): Directorate C - Central Financial Services: Olivier WAELBROECK became the new Director, replacing José Antonio LOPEZ SANCHEZ. Tobias LAMBECK is the new Head of Financial Regulations Unit, replacing Olivier WAELBROECK. Florence BOUVRET is the new Head of Procurement, contracts and grants Unit, replacing Brigitte FELLAHI-BROGNAUX.
Interpretation (SCIC): Directorate A - Interpreters: Luisa CASTELLANI became the new acting Director, replacing Ann D’HAEN-BERTIER. Tatjana ZAGAJSKI is the new acting Head of Croatian Language Interpreting Unit, replacing Luisa CASTELLANI.
Justice and Consumers (JUST): Francisco FONSECA MORILLO took up his role as Deputy Director-General.
Legal Service (SJ): Karen BANKS took up her position as Deputy Director-General on 16 November, replacing Luis ROMERO REQUENA.
Migration and Home Affairs (HOME) – Directorate A - Strategy and General Affairs: Marc RICHIR became the new acting Head of Inter-institutional Relations and Citizenship Unit, replacing Ioan-Dragos TUDORACHE.
Office of Infrastructure and Logistics Brussels (OIB) – Management of Real Estate Department: Michel DURAND became the new Management of buildings and technical installations Unit, replacing Marc SÉGUINOT.
Trade (TRADE) – Directorate G - Trade Strategy and Market Access: Jean-Charles VAN EECKHAUTE is the new Head of Trade Strategy Unit.
Secretariat-General: Ex-Permanent Representative of Latvia to the EU, Ilze JUHANSONE took up her role as Deputy Secretary-General on 16 November.
European External Action Service (EEAS):
Human Rights, Global and Multilateral Issues Directorate: Filiberto CERIANI SEBREGONDI became the new Head of Development cooperation coordination Department, replacing Wolfram VETTER.
Special Representatives (EUSR): Samuel ŽBOGAR’s mandate as EUSR in Kosovo extended until 28 February 2017.
Committee of the Regions (CoR):
Members:
Heike RAAB (PES, DE) joined as a Member.
Jacek PROTAS (EPP, PL), Marek SOWA (EPP, PL) and José Luís CARNEIRO (PES, PT) left their positions.
Alternates:
Henk STAGHOUWER (ECR, NL) appointed as an alternate, replacing Nienke HOMAN (Greens, NL).
European Agencies:
European Global Navigation Satellite Systems Agency (GSA): Carlo DES DORIDES was re-elected to a second 4-year term as the Executive Director as of 29 November.
Public affairs:
European Confederation of Maize Production (CEPM): Daniel PEYRAUBE elected as President, taking over Christophe TERRAIN who was in the reins of the Presidency for 16 years.
News in a nutshell:
European Parliament: MEPs head to Strasbourg from Monday 23 to Thursday 26 for the plenary.
Member states:
Finland: The Parliament will debate whether to leave the euro next year, following a citizens’ petition that reached the necessary signatures. The petition seeks to set up a referendum on Finland’s membership in the eurozone, but it would only go ahead if the Parliament backs it.
Romania: The cabinet of Dacian CIOLOȘ (Ind) won a confidence vote and the new government has now taken office. Lazăr COMĂNESCU appointed Minister for Foreign Affairs and Anca Dana DRAGU PALIU (ex-Economic data Analyst at the Commission’s Directorate General for Economic and Financial Affairs) as Minister for Finance. Ex-Permanent Representative (until August 2015) to the EU Mihnea Ion MOTOC appointed Minister for Defense and Achim IRIMESCU, Head of Agriculture, Fisheries and Rural development section as Minister for Agriculture.
United Kingdom: The House of Lords passed measures to lower the voting age to 16, for just the EU referendum and not a general election. The bill now will return to the House of Commons for further scrutiny and an early date for the referendum seems increasingly unlikely. Stay up-to-date on the EU referendum developments, by subscribing to our fortnightly bulletin.
Candidate countries:
Turkey: President Recep TAYYIP ERDOĞAN gave Prime Minister Ahmet DAVUTOĞLU, Justice and Development party (AKP) (AECR), the mandate to form a new government on 17 November 2015.
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