Commission’s premier league

Date: 09/04/1998

Rory Watson dismantles the mesh of formal and informal relationships which drives the European Commission THE European Commission presents a homogenous picture to the outside world. Everyone is working together in the same cause and any decision is taken in the name of 'the Commission'.

That sense of organised unity is reinforced by a superficial glance at the institution's directory, which stretches to almost 800 pages and sets out in detail the responsibilities of each administrative official in the rigidly hierarchical structure which has been imposed on the 24 directorates-general and 14 services.

But this two-dimensional snapshot fails to illuminate the movers and shakers, the élite officials and the different networks which flow like currents through the institution and can short-circuit - or impose - bureaucratic blockages.

This parallel structure was at its most finely tuned during Jacques Delors' ten-year spell as Commission president from 1985. He took over at a time when 'Euro-sclerosis' was the buzz-word, and he wanted to move the creaking administration at a speed which was alien to many.

In breaking through the inertia, he was helped by the presence of two able Frenchmen in key positions: Jean-Claude Morel and Jean-Louis Dewost. Both were directors-general. The former handled personnel, the latter was, and still is, in charge of the legal service.

The network was extended by Delors' no-nonsense chef de cabinet Pascal Lamy. He arrived in Brussels six months before the new president to study the lie of the land and to determine where energetic and sympathetic officials should be placed to pull the levers of power.

Over time, members of Delors' cabinet moved into these key positions and many are there still.

One of the president's most trusted advisers, Jerome Vignon, became de facto head of the Commission's internal think-tank which reported directly to Delors. The one-time presidential adviser Gunter Burghardt became the first Commission official responsible for political cooperation, while another aide, Jean-Charles Leygues, was appointed a director in DGXVI (regional policy), which had become increasingly important through the significant expansion of EU structural funds.

Other influential members of Delors' entourage who now, since his departure, occupy prominent positions in the Commission include the Deputy Secretary-General Bernhard Zepter, the Deputy Director-General in charge of relations with central and eastern Europe François Lamoureux and the head of last year's Amsterdam Treaty negotiating team Michel Petite.

Alongside his cabinet, the former president relied heavily for advice on a small group of the Commission's most senior officials: Riccardo Perissich, Giovanni Ravasio, Eneko Landaburu and Alex Schaub. The first now works in the private sector in Italy, but the remaining three are among the most experienced of the institution's directors-general.

While the extension of the presidential network inevitably stoked up resentment in many quarters and has provoked a hostile backlash, even critics recognise that those who were promoted were all able people.

"They never championed poor candidates. People or governments who try to create their own networks in the Commission do not seem to realise that these do not work if you back mediocre people," points out one survivor from that period.

While the style of Delors' successor Jacques Santer is less presidential, it nevertheless remains true that a spell in a cabinet can propel the able and ambitious official upwards.

Among the current crop of directors-general, Jim Currie (environment), Philip Lowe (development), Michel Vanden Abeele (indirect taxation), Horst Reichenbach (health protection) and Tom O'Dwyer (education) have all previously been chefs de cabinet. Others such as Steffen Smidt (personnel) and Isabella Ventura (financial control) have been Commissioners' advisers at one time or another, as has the current Secretary-General Carlo Trojan.

"Cabinet experience is important. You understand how the machinery works and you meet ex-cabinet members everywhere. It may have been 15 years since we worked together, but we still meet socially and it counts," explains one director-general.

Another circle which can accelerate career advancement is formed by the assistants to the directors-general. While the position may not provide a powerful enough launch pad for holders to move immediately to a director's A2 post, it is solid enough to propel individuals to head of unit status with the prospect of further advancement later.

Assistants also enjoy a strong influence over policy and personnel matters, and a degree of visibility which officials working exclusively in one policy area do not.

"Being an assistant is a horizontal job which gives you a lot of visibility with other departments and especially with the Directorate-General for personnel (DGIX), which is in a crucial position of knowing where the openings are and which DGs are being reorganised," points out one assistant.

Given the importance of visibility, many ambitious officials seek to work in the Commission's general secretariat with its across-the-board responsibilities.

"People in the general secretariat get to meet people and tend to be offered jobs. You have to get to know the movers and shakers. That is part of what getting on in the Commission is all about," says one veteran.

Cutting across these different Commission currents are purely national networks which can be used to promote particular causes or individuals. The long-serving Budget Director-General Jean-Paul Mingasson is chairman of the Brussels association of France's prestigious Ecole National d'Administration (ENA), which grooms the crème de la crème of the country's civil service.

"It is a strong network, which includes the various French embassies in Brussels as well as the EU institutions. It tends to hold dinner parties to which it invites very senior figures such as Elisabeth Guigou, Viscount Davignon and Philippe de Schoutheete, which gives you some idea of its influence," explains one member.

German officials tend to be grouped on more political grounds around the major political parties, although one senior German official warns that this is not a guarantee of effectiveness. "You do not necessarily get the best people, since the danger is that they join for career reasons," he says.

The UK government also keeps closely in touch with nationals who have moved to the Commission, by sending them a six-monthly newsletter and by appointing an official in each directorate-general to act as a contact point.

Concerned at the shortage of British officials in EU institutions, the UK introduced a special 'fast stream' in 1990 to prepare high-flying civil servants to compete in entrance exams for the bottom rung of the administrative structure.

The scheme has helped almost 40 UK nationals to enter the institutions, but its success has been somewhat limited by the fact that no general concours have been held since 1993. Like acorns into oaks, it will be several years before the officials achieve positions of real responsibility.

As the various EU institutions (particularly the Commission) mature, so they increasingly take on some of the characteristics of national administrations.

Certain families are ever-present. One of Competition Commissioner Karel van Miert's advisers is Marc van Hoof, whose mother Renée established the institution's much-respected interpreters' service. Internal Market Commissioner Mario Monti's spokesperson is Betty Olivi, whose father Bino created the Spokesman's Service out of virtually nothing.

The Commission's representative to the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, Philippe Petit-Laurent, is a second-generation official, while former Agriculture Commissioner Frans Andriessen's daughter Henrica now works for the institution.

"You could give many more examples, and it is not surprising. They have grown up in this European environment and have probably gone to the European schools. So they are interested, knowledgeable and speak different languages," explains an official.

Major feature in which writer dismantles the mesh of formal and informal relationships which drives the European Commission. See also p19, 'Student élite heading for high places' and 'Youthful faces get themselves known on European stage'.