Tensions set to grow as Swede lands top fisheries job

Date: 25/07/02

By Martin Banks

THE European Commission is facing renewed tension with opponents of its marine reforms after naming a Swede as the new head of its fisheries directorate.

Jörgen Holmquist, currently deputy director-general in DG Budget, succeeds Dane Steffen Smidt, who was controversially removed from his post in April amid strong lobbying from the Spanish regions. Holmquist, 55, who takes up his new post on 1 September, is said to share similar views to his predecessor on the need for an overhaul of the Common Fisheries Policy.

A Commission insider said: 'There will be relief in some quarters that the Commission did not cave in to what amounted to open pressure from Spain to appoint a southern European DG.' Struan Stevenson, chairman of the Parliament's fisheries committee, said: 'The new man faces a massive job - but the appointment may not sit well with our Spanish colleagues.'

That view was confirmed by the reaction of Spanish officials in Brussels. One diplomat, who asked not to be named, said: 'The appointment of another Nordic DG at fisheries is a real slap in the face.'

Spain is home to almost a third of the bloc's trawlermen and is the main beneficiary of the 1 billion euro-a-year fisheries policy. It fears the reform plans could decimate Spain's coastal communities. Holmquist beat off competition from Briton John Farnell, a director in DG fisheries, and Dane Lars Hoelgaard, a director in DG agriculture, to get the top job.

Smidt, meanwhile, told European Voice there was a 'strong possibility' he will move to a senior job in the Danish foreign ministry.

Other Commission officials on the move include German Eckart Guth, currently head of budget chief Michaele Schreyer's cabinet, who becomes a deputy to David O'Sullivan, the Commission's secretary-general.

Guth, 58, will oversee the Commission's relations with the other EU institutions. His replacement will be announced at a later date.

Belgian Pierre Defraigne, head of cabinet for Trade Commissioner Pascal Lamy, has been appointed deputy director-general for trade and is replaced by Nicolas Théry, who is currently working for a trade union in France.

Claude Chêne, meanwhile, becomes deputy director-general for competition (state aid).

The 56-year-old Frenchman has been in charge of drawing up Commission Vice-President Neil Kinnock's administrative reforms.

The European Commission is facing renewed tension with opponents of its marine reforms after naming a Swede as the new head of its fisheries directorate. Jörgen Holmquist, currently deputy director-general in DG Budget, succeeds Dane Steffen Smidt, who was controversially removed from his post in April 2002.