Commission conspiracy over the Italian job?

Date: 15/05/1997

What are our two Italian Commissioners up to?

Emma Bonino and Mario Monti have joined forces to block the appointment of an experienced Italian official to a top post in the Directorate-General for social affairs (DGV).

The fact that neither has any direct interest or involvement in DGV has only added to the mystery over their objections, especially as the promotion of Luisella Pavan-Woolfe is supported by the relevant Commissioner, Pádraig Flynn, and director-general, Allan Larsson, as well as Secretary-General David Williamson.

Pavan-Woolfe, who has been a Commission fonctionnaire for 20 years, is currently in charge of social fund spending in Italy, Ireland and Finland. On offer is the vacant A2 director's post in DGV handling general social policy issues.

But insiders believe she may be a victim of a blatant attempt by the two Italian Commis-sioners to safeguard the future ambitions of their personal staff, who will be looking for safe DG posts once their cabinet stints end.

Italy could expect 24 A2 posts in the Commission. It currently has 22 and there are three Italian chefs de cabinet (Fischler's chef is Italian, as are Bonino and Monti's top aides) who will be seeking safe berths.

Their chances would be slimmer if Pavan-Woolfe was appointed to one of the two vacant Italian A2 posts, but stronger if someone of another nationality were appointed, since that would still leave two Italian vacancies in the institution.

So has the Commission overridden the Italian objections? No. Not even Personnel Commissioner

Erkki Liikanen, committed to increasing the female share of top jobs, is prepared to take a stand.

Instead, there is a classic compromise. Pavan-Woolfe is deemed the best internal candidate, but it has been decided to extend the search to external applicants.