Men land top jobs in shake up at Commission

Date: 25/04/02

THE European Commission claims it is still committed to achieving gender balance in its highest ranks even though all 13 top officials it appointed this week are male.

A spokesman for internal reform chief Neil Kinnock, said the advancement of women fonctionnaires is 'still a priority objective'.

Briton Philip Lowe, currently Kinnock's chief advisor, won the most coveted post - head of the directorate-general (DG) for competition. Its present boss, Alexander Schaub, will become head of the internal market DG. The other appointments were:

• Italy's Fabio Colasanti, head of DG Enterprise, takes over the reins at DG Information Society; his compatriot Gianfranco Rocca stays as deputy chief in DG Competition but his role will now give him responsibility for all anti-trust activities; France's Jean-Paul Mingasson, head of the Budget DG, will head of DG Enterprise.

His compatriot Robert Verrue, head of DG Information Society, becomes head of the DG for tax and customs; and Jean-François Pons, currently deputy chief at DG Competition, becomes a high-level advisor in the same department.

John Mogg, head of the internal market DG, becomes a high-level advisor there, while fellow Briton David Roberts, deputy chief at DG Agriculture takes a similar job in that department; Denmark's Steffen Smidt, head of DG Fisheries, becomes a top advisor there, while Belgian Michel Vanden Abeele, head of the taxation DG, will head the Commission translation service.

Meanwhile, Greece's Athanassios Theodorakis, deputy-chief at DG Development, becomes top advisor at the same DG and German Bernhard Zepter, Commission deputy Secretary-General, becomes advisor to its top official David O'Sullivan.

All 13 new officials appointed to the European Commission in the week beginning 22 April 2002 are male despite the European Commission's claims to redress the gender imbalance of its highest staff.