European Commission appoints new Directors-General for Communication and for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs

Met dank overgenomen van Europese Commissie (EC)1, gepubliceerd op woensdag 6 februari 2019.

Today, and with effect of 16 March 2019, the European Commission appointed current Deputy Secretary-General Pia Ahrenkilde Hansen as Director-General of its Communication department (DG Communication) - the first woman to hold this post. Timo Pesonen, the current Director-General of DG Communication, will be heading the Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs department (DG GROW) as of 1 March 2019. He will succeed Lowri Evans in that position, who will retire as of 1 March.

Ms Ahrenkilde Hansen is a Danish national who, as one of three Deputy Secretaries-General, is currently the Commission's Chief Operating Officer. She joined the Commission in 1995 and spent almost her entire career working on communication about the European Union and its policies, including as European Commission Spokeswoman under Presidents Prodi2 and Barroso (from 1999-2009). She was the Chief Spokeswoman of the Commission from 2009 to 2014, before being in charge of the Commission's Representations in the Member States, as a Director in DG Communication, from 2014 to 2018. This extensive experience, coupled with her current corporate and high-level managerial responsibilities make her ideally suited for her new assignment.

Timo Pesonen, a Finnish national, is the current Director-General of DG Communication with a distinguished career both outside and within the Commission. Before leading DG Communication from 2015 onwards, he headed the private office of Mr Olli Rehn3 when the latter was Vice-President for Economic and Monetary Affairs and the Euro between 2010 and 2014 and Commissioner for Enlargement from 2004 to 2009, respectively. He was also Acting Head of the Commission Representation in Helsinki from 2003 to 2004, Spokesman for former Commissioner Erkki Liikanen4 and, from 1997 to 2002, Special Adviser on EU Affairs to the then Prime Minister of Finland, Mr Paavo Lipponen. He will therefore bring ample experience in policy-making, management and communication to his new job.

Finally, the Commission thanked Lowri Evans, the current Director-General of the Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs department who will retire from the Commission as of 1 March, for her more than three decades of distinguished and dedicated service in many positions of great responsibility. Having joined the Commission in 1983, she rose from being a desk officer in DG Competition all the way to the post of Deputy Director-General there, before serving as Director-General first in the Fisheries and Maritime Affairs department and since 2015 in her current function.

For More Information:

IP/19/885

 

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Meer over ...

  • 1. 
    Deze instelling van de Europese Unie kan worden beschouwd als het 'dagelijks bestuur' van de EU. De leden van de Europese Commissie worden 'Eurocommissarissen' genoemd. Elke Eurocommissaris is verantwoordelijk voor één of meerdere beleidsgebieden.
     
  • 2. 
    Deze Commissie trad op 17 september 1999 aan na het vervroegde aftreden van de Commissie-Santer. De termijn van de commissie liep op 1 november 2004 af, maar de commissie bleef aan tot 22 november. De voorzitter van de Commissie was de Italiaan Romano Prodi. VVD-politicus Frits Bolkestein was Eurocommissaris voor de interne markt en fiscale zaken.
     
  • 3. 
    De Fin Olli Rehn (1962) was van juli 2004 tot juni 2014 lid van de Europese Commissie. In de Commissie-Barroso II was hij belast met economische en monetaire zaken. In de commissie-Barroso I (2004-2010) was hij verantwoordelijk voor de betrekkingen met de kandidaat-lidstaten en zaken betreffende de uitbreiding van de Europese Unie. Eerder was hij lid van het Finse parlement en werkte hij bij de Europese Commissie in Brussel. Na zijn aftreden als Eurocommissaris was hij lid van het Europees Parlement en van de Riksdag en minister van Economische Zaken (2015-2017). Sinds 12 juli 2018 is hij president van de Finse centrale bank.
     
  • 4. 
    Erkki Liikanen (1950) was van 1999 tot 2004 lid van de Europese Commissie. Van 1995 tot 1999 was hij belast met begroting, personeelsbeleid en algemeen beheer, vertaling en informatica. Keerde in 1999 terug als eurocommissaris ondernemingsbeleid en informatiemaatschappij. Eerder was hij tijdens het presidentschap van Koivisto minister van Financiën in het kabinet-Holkeri. Liikanen is lid van de Finse sociaaldemocratische partij.