Better, worse, neutral?

(I suppose Oettinger gets it because of Freiburg?)

Changes for DG ENV:

• The Climate Directorate ENV C moves from DG ENV to the new DG for Climate Action (except the Clean Air Unit C.3);

• The Civil Protection Units ENV A.3. and ENV A.4 move from DG ENV to DG Humanitarian Aid (ECHO);

• The Biotechnology, Pesticides and Health Unit ENV D.4 moves from DG ENV to DG Health and Consumers (SANCO).

Joaquín ALMUNIA: Competition. Vice-President of the Commission.

Will he be as 'tough' as Kroes? (I'm asking both with regards to private companies playing dirty, and national governments trying to enact an industrial or environmental policy.)

It speaks volumes that Almunia's appointment was the leading news on WSJ when I checked a hour ago.

László ANDOR: Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion.

Succeeding Vladimír Špidla, hopefully a good choice.

_{*Lunatic*, n.
One whose delusions are out of fashion.}

Dacian Cioloş - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

He was born in Zalău and after graduating from the agro-industrial high school in Şimleu Silvaniei in 1987, attended the Horticulture faculty of the University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine of Cluj-Napoca from 1989 to 1994, graduating as a horticultural engineer. He also holds degrees in the economy of agricultural development from the École nationale supérieure agronomique de Rennes and from the University of Montpellier 1, where he earned a master's in 1997 and a doctorate in 2006. He has belonged to the Bruges Group since 2000, and he is married.^[1] Cioloş is a political independent.^[2][3]

From 1991 to 1996, Cioloş completed thirteen months' worth of internships on organic farms in the French region of Brittany. In the summer of 1995, he prepared a rural development project between Savoie and Argeş County, while working at the Aveyron agricultural chamber of commerce in Rodez during 1997, studying agricultural and rural development in the northern part of that department. In 1997 and 1999, he interned as an agro-economist at the European Commission's Directorate-General for Agriculture and Rural Development in Brussels, helping prepare the Special Accession Programme for Agriculture and Rural Development (SAPARD). In 1998-1999, he directed a local rural development programme in Argeş County, again cooperating with Savoie. From 1999 to 2001, he worked at two agricultural development agencies in France, coordinating joint programmes with Romania in that field. From 2002 to 2003, as part of the European Commission's delegation to Romania, he helped manage SAPARD's implementation in his native country. From January 2005 to May 2007, he was an adviser to Romania's Agriculture Minister, and a representative in the European Council's Special Committee on Agriculture. From May to October 2007, he was undersecretary of state for European affairs at the ministry.^[1] Following the resignation of Decebal Traian Remeş due to a corruption scandal,^[4] he was appointed Agriculture Minister in October 2007, serving until the following December, when Tăriceanu's National Liberal Party-led government left office after a parliamentary election.^[5] Early in 2009, he returned to work at the Agriculture and Rural Development DG.^[6]

In October 2009, the Emil Boc government, which hopes to secure the Agriculture portfolio in the second Barroso Commission, nominated Cioloş as Romania's EU Commissioner.^[7] The proposal was criticised by the opposition Liberals and Social Democrats, who saw it as a last-ditch maneuver by a government on the brink of collapse, as well as by the Party of European Socialists, who believe the position ought to go to a Social Democrat.^[3] Boc's cabinet did indeed resign the day after nominating Cioloş, when it lost a motion of no confidence.^[8] At the end of November, Barroso nominated Cioloş to the Agriculture position, observing that his was "the most competent name" of those submitted for consideration, and lauding his "modern vision" of agriculture and rural development.^[9]

Oh, the northern part of the Aveyron is José Bové's parish.

Finally a medical response to the pandemic Anglo disease. One of the most virulent carriers, Brown's Britain, has been been placed in an isolation ward and sent a High Representative bunch of flowers and some sour grapes.

The plan by President Sarkozy of France and Angela Merkel, the German Chancellor, has been to take control of the EU's economic agenda after what both agreed had been a period of damaging Anglo-Saxon market liberalism.

As Chancellor, Gordon Brown came to Brussels, year in, year out, to resist greater regulation for hedge funds, private equity and the like, to allow the City to flourish. In Charlie McCreevy, the Irishman in charge of the internal market and financial services, he had a willing soulmate. "Light touch" was the buzzword of both Britain and Ireland. The downturn, when it came, was harsh for both countries but it also wounded the rest of Europe. Berlin and Paris plotted to wrest back control.

When, as Prime Minister, Mr Brown went to last week's EU summit to propose Geoff Hoon as Britain's next commissioner, he was hijacked by José Manuel Barroso, the commission chief, and by Europe's Socialist leaders.

They were all in on the deal cooked up in Paris to install the Christian Democrat Herman Van Rompuy of Belgium as Europe's first president, in exchange for the Socialists picking the High Representative and the plum job controlling EU competition policy. Mr Brown wanted an economic post, but most of the EU would not let London near one. The only option that would work, he was told, would be a British High Representative, preferably female. Lady Ashton was picked. She had not even prepared a speech for the press conference.

Where does Rehn, as a rather powerful Commissioner for Economic and Monetary Affairs, fit in to the chess game of European politics? As a returning commissioner, he has apparently proved himself competent to Barroso, and also to the D-G's. He also speaks French, English, Swedish - and is honing his German language skills. And a Masters in political science from Helsinki University and an Oxford PhD (Corporatism and Industrial Competitiveness in Small European States) all support the competence argument. And he played football in his youth.

But the clincher imo is that he represents one of the senior Nordics - an area as far from the leprous Anglo market liberalism as is possible within Europe.

You can't be me, I'm taken

• I hope Oettinger will.

• The Research and Innovation portfolio was spared of Mr. Empty Suit Johannes Hahn, but he may not be better suited for Regional Policy either, and what does former justice minister Maire Geoghegan-Quinn have to do with R&D?

• Janez Potočnik has nothing to do with Environment, either, even if good at European affairs and economics. (But this was the situation with his predecessor already... whom the then EP let pass.)