Santer woos the ladies

Date: 30/11/1995

Is President Jacques Santer practising positive discrimination in breach of recently-established European law?

The European Court of Justice suggested last month that it was wrong to promote women into jobs against equally-qualified men just to improve the balance between the sexes. So we can assume that the replacement of two senior men in the Santer cabinet with two women is simply because they were the best people for the jobs.

One of the vacancies has been created by highly-respected Spanish Cabinet member Daniel Calleja rocketing up the Euro-organigram from A6 to A2 in one giant leap, an unusual achievement which will doubtless boost morale amongst more plodding time-servers about their own prospects.

Under Santer, Calleja chaired the Commission's infringment meetings, but now becomes Commissioner Marcelino Oreja's Chef de Cabinet and will be badly missed by the president's entourage.

Fewer tears are being shed over the departure of Thierry Bert, Santer's deputy chef, who is returning to Paris at the end of the year having never really fitted in in Brussels.

The new women in Santer's professional life change the Cabinet gender make-up, but not its nationality balance.

Maria Blanca Rodriguez Galindo comes from the legal service to replace Calleja, and Bert's post is being filled by Christine Roger, a French civil servant currently handling Antici issues in the French permanent representation.