A controversial appointment of Von der Leyen resigns after criticism from Parliament and a number of other commissioners | International | EUROtoday

The European Union won’t have a particular envoy for SMEs till after the European elections. Markus Pieper, candidate chosen for the place by the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, has resigned from taking workplace this Monday night time, just some hours earlier than taking workplace. His resignation marks a defeat for Von der Leyen, who had appointed Pieper, a German conservative MEP from the CDU, as her, with the specific and written opposition of 4 commissioners. The appointment has even been rejected by the European Parliament.

This Tuesday needed to be Pieper's first day in his new job, however ultimately it received't be like that. Late within the afternoon, the German enterprise day by day, Handelsblatt, has introduced that he was dropping out after the accusations of favoritism that his appointment had sparked. The completion was put final Thursday by the European Parliament, the place the designation of the MEP as particular envoy for SMEs had 382 votes of disapproval in comparison with the help of 184. The outcome was, after all, a censure for the president of the Commission herself as quickly as a couple of weeks earlier than the European elections and when she is immersed in the midst of the marketing campaign to resume her mandate between 2024 and 2029.

“The president [Ursula von der Leyen] respects and regrets at the same time the decision of Markus Pieper not to take up his position as Envoy for SMEs on April 16. Pieper is an accredited expert in SMEs and has prevailed in a multi-phase selection process,” says a brief statement issued around 10:30 p.m. this Monday by the Commission. In that note, it is also announced that the position is vacant: “The president has determined to droop the reopening of the choice procedures for the place of envoy for SMEs till after the European elections.”

Pieper, for his part, has accused the Internal Market Commissioner, Thierry Breton, of boycotting his appointment and that is why he has resigned from the position, as he commented in the German newspaper Handelsblatt: “Breton boycotted my commission takeover beforehand, I currently see no chance of meeting the legitimate expectations associated with the office.”

The Frenchman Breton, liberal, together with three other members of the college of commissioners (the Italian Paolo Gentiloni, responsible for Economy and Finance; the Luxembourgish Nicolas Schmidt, responsible for Employment; and the Spanish Josep Borrell, high representative for Foreign Policy), Socialists, sent a letter to Von der Leyen expressing their rejection of Pieper's appointment to the position, which was remunerated with a monthly salary of 20,000 euros per month.

The president and her team defended the decision by arguing that the process had followed the rules. However, at least two other candidates who would have obtained better scores for the position would have participated in the process that was followed. One of them is the Czech liberal MEP, Martina Dlabajova, who has also announced an appeal against her appointment before the Human Resources service of the Executive of the Union.

Given this, the most that the Commission has said this Monday night is that “the autonomy of each EU institution must be respected when appointing its senior officials.”

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