Commission shuffle

Date: 05/12/1996

How time flies when you read Entre Nous! It seems like only last week that we were noting that a Commission decision on a successor to the head of translation was months away.

Now we find that the first part of the long-awaited reshuffle of Commission directors-general is with us already, ending a lifetime of speculation. It also signals another stage in the reorganisation of DGXXIII (enterprise, tourism and SMEs) and confirms a further weakening of the influence that the Christian Democrats, especially German, have traditionally had in the directorate-general, which comes under the authority of Greek Socialist Commissioner Christos Papoutsis.

The new director-general replacing Heinrich Von Moltke is Belgian Socialist Commissioner Karel van Miert's chef de cabinet Michel vanden Abeele. He beat Austrian rivals who had earlier been seen as the front runners for the job.

As predicted, Danish Director-General Steffen Smidt leaves DGVIII for DGIX and Colette Flesch moves from DGX to head translation.