(Feb 21). Two new Directorates-General have been created: DG Energy (ENER) and DG Climate Action (CLIM). The Energy DG consists of the departments in the former Transport and Energy DG dealing with energy issues and of the Task Force Energy which will be transferred from the External Relations DG. The position of Director-General will be assumed by Philip Lowe, a British national, currently Director-General in DG Competition. The departments responsible for transport policy will remain in the renamed Mobility and Transport DG (MOVE). The Climate Action DG will be created from the relevant activities in DG Environment, the activities in the External Relations DG related to international negotiations on climate change and the activities in the Enterprise and Industry DG related to climate change. Jos Delbeke, a Belgian national and currently Deputy Director-General in the Environment DG, has been appointed Director-General of the Climate Action DG.
The Commission has also decided to appoint Christian Leffler, a Swedish national, to the position of Deputy Director-General in the DG for Development and Relations with African, Caribbean and Pacific States. Rudolf Strohmeier, a German national, has been appointed to the position of Deputy Director-General in the Research DG.
The Commission also made a number of appointments at the level of Director and Principal Advisor, including two officials from the Member States which joined the EU in 2004. These decisions were delayed while it was in caretaker mode. It also agreed to transfer a number of activities from one DG to another to better align them with the responsibilities of the respective portfolios of the Commissioners. The DGs concerned are those for Mobility and Transport, Competition, Enterprise and Industry, Environment, Humanitarian Aid and Health and Consumers.
To advance the Commission’s strategic approach on research, a task force, to be chaired by the Secretary-General, has been set up. This will launch a strategic reflection at Commission level on the evolution of the research budget, the degree of externalisation in the management of research programmes and the links between research and other policies in organisational terms.