BRUSSELS: EU Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker will decide by the end of July what role he will give to Britain’s new commissioner, named by London after the Brexit vote, a spokesman said Monday.
British Prime Minister David Cameron last week proposed that Britain’s ambassador to France Julian King replace financial services commissioner Jonathan Hill, who stepped down after the British referendum on June 23.
During an hour-long meeting in Brussels with King on Monday, Juncker “was able to establish Sir Julian’s European competences” and determine he was fit for the job, Juncker’s spokesman Margaritis Schinas said.
“On the basis of this meeting and his biography the president is now reflecting on possible portfolios and he will announce his decision by the end of this month,” Schinas told a daily briefing.
When asked if there was any chance Juncker would leave King without a specific portfolio given that Britain could be out of the EU in two years, Schinas replied:
“Yes I am tempted to exclude this possibility.” A senior diplomat, King is currently Britain’s ambassador to France, but has also held posts in Brussels, New York, Paris, Luxembourg, The Hague and Lisbon.
Crucially, King worked at the European Commission in 2008 and 2009 where he was chief of staff to Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson and later to foreign affairs supremo Catherine Ashton, both British commissioners.
If confirmed, King will not however take over Hill’s highly sensitive financial services portfolio, which is now being shared between Latvia’s Valdis Dombrovskis, the commission vice president for the euro and Economics Affairs Commissioner Pierre Moscovici of France. King’s nomination requires the approval of European Parliament, where nominees must face a gruelling hearing with MEPs, as well the green light of the EU’s member states.
