In the cafes and lunch spots surrounding the offices which house the EU institutions in Brussels, hundreds of individual lobbying campaigns have been waged over the last four months. The angle is not to influence some law or regulation, but to clinch a job with one of the incoming European commissioners.
The new European Commission, headed again by Ursula von der Leyen, took office at the start of this month. Much of the speculation beforehand focused on what portfolios commissioners from each country would get, which is a marker of who is up and who is down in the snakes and ladders of European politics.
Below the high politics playing out between national governments and Von der Leyen, was a sort of backroom Hunger Games, where hundreds of officials, EU civil servants and advisers vied to get into the “cabinets” of the incoming crop of commissioners.
Each commissioner has a core team of six people in their cabinet, and then additional policy and administrative assistants. Cabinet jobs have traditionally been seen as a springboard to advance a career within the EU institutions, so the roles are always highly sought after.
Competition is fierce. There are those in the cabinets of departing commissioners looking to stay on with someone else, officials inside commission departments wanting to move across, as well as political advisers or civil servants from back home hoping to make the jump to Brussels. “The game of thrones was particularly brutal this time around,” one commission official said.
The number of cabinet posts was reduced by one, but more of a headache were changes made to how many people a commissioner can hire of their own nationality. Previously you could have three “own-nationals”, but that was cut to two. You also need to have a 50:50 gender balance and a bit of a geographical mix.
Hundreds applied for the handful of jobs in the cabinet of Ireland’s commissioner Michael McGrath. At least 60 Irish people expressed interest in trying to get cabinet roles more broadly.
Fiona Knab-Lunny, a relatively under-the-radar but well regarded character, was hired as the head of McGrath’s team. The former Irish diplomat had worked in the cabinet of Josep Borrell, the previous EU foreign affairs chief. Kevin Barrett, the former Fianna Fáil economic adviser who was McGrath’s right-hand man in government, took the other “Irish” job in his cabinet. The rest of his team are drawn from outgoing cabinets and commission officials with backgrounds in his brief: justice, the rule of law and consumer protection.
[ EU to limit asylum rights in response to Russian ‘weaponisation’ of migrationOpens in new window ]
From as early as April people started to put the word out that they were interested in cabinet jobs. As the names of prospective commissioners began to be floated over the summer, the hustling ramped up. The announcement in September detailing which commissioner was getting what portfolio kicked off the proper shoving.
One source who served in two cabinets likened the job hunt to a “political campaign”. It helps to have a network of influential people in the EU orbit willing to advocate for you if asked. The pressure is acute for those working for departing commissioners, who can face being out of a job entirely. Diplomats play a role by trying to push candidates from their country into contention.
[ Michael McGrath has a lot on his plate as EU justice commissionerOpens in new window ]
Sean Mernagh, an Irish commission official working on competition cases, landed a job in the cabinet of Teresa Ribera, the powerful commissioner from Spain responsible for climate transition and competition policy. Often roles are secured through “swaps” between countries. So McGrath agreeing to hire a Spanish commission official likely helped Mernagh. Commissioners with bigger portfolios have a stronger hand to play in this haggling.
There was a push by Irish diplomats to swap someone into the cabinet of Kaja Kallas, the new EU foreign affairs chief, which fell short, according to one source. How many of their nationals a country gets into cabinets is read as a reflection of diplomatic heft in Brussels. “Not amazing, not terrible,” is how one EU official from Ireland judged our efforts.
Paul Moley, who was communications adviser to former Irish commissioner Mairead McGuinness, landed a job in the cabinet of Roxana Minzatu, the commissioner from Romania. Kevin Keary, who worked for trade commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis, and before that Phil Hogan, wasn’t taken into a new cabinet.
There is talk that the head of McGuinness’s cabinet, Patricia Reilly, could make her way into Von der Leyen’s team of advisers in a role focusing on agriculture policy, although some insiders are sceptical about this speculation.
Anthony Whelan, an influential Irish official in the commission president’s cabinet during her first term, is leaving in the coming months. Whelan is to become deputy director general of the commission’s competition department, a high-profile role in the EU executive.
Many commissioner cabinets were only fully finalised in the last fortnight. The intense nature of the job means there is usually a degree of churn as people move on after two or three years, opening up vacancies. Those who came close but missed out in this intake will be keeping their CVs up to date.
