German MEP Markus Pieper announced on Monday that he was giving up a highly paid position at the European Commission, after a controversy which threatened the electoral campaign of President Ursula von der Leyen a few weeks before the European elections.
At the end of January, this elected official from the Christian Democratic Union (CDU, right) was chosen to occupy the new position of emissary in charge of small and medium-sized businesses within the European executive. This recruitment was notably contested by the European Commissioner for the Internal Market, Thierry Breton.
The choice of a compatriot from the same party as Mrs von der Leyen fueled accusations of favoritism. Especially since it took place a few weeks before a congress in Bucharest at the beginning of March during which the EPP group (of which the CDU is a part) gave its support to a second term for Mrs von der Leyen.
Launch of a new procedure
The European Parliament called on Thursday for the cancellation of this appointment and the launch of a new procedure by a vote by a large majority. Markus Pieper said he was the victim of a political campaign led by Thierry Breton, close to the liberal Renew group.
“Given the way in which Breton boycotted my entry into office from the start within the Commission, I currently see no possibility of meeting the legitimate expectations linked to this function
,” Markus Pieper declared Monday evening to the German daily
Handelsblatt
. He claimed that the French commissioner was
“exclusively motivated by partisan politics”
.
Markus Pieper signed his contract on March 31 and was due to take office this Tuesday. He should have reported directly to Ursula von der Leyen and Thierry Breton, in particular in charge of industry. The grade 15 position, one of the highest in the European hierarchy, was to earn him remuneration of 18,430 euros gross per month, according to the official scale.
Ursula von der Leyen took note of this withdrawal.
“The President respects and at the same time regrets the decision of Markus Pieper to give up taking up his duties as Envoy for SMEs
,” declared her spokesperson Éric Mamer in a press release on Monday evening.
“The President has decided to suspend the reopening of the selection procedure for the position (...) until the period following the European elections
,” he said.
Thierry Breton, as well as the Italian commissioners Paolo Gentiloni, Luxembourg Nicolas Schmit and the head of EU diplomacy, the Spaniard Josep Borrell, had questioned
“the transparency and impartiality”
of the procedure for appointing Markus Pieper in a letter to Ursula von der Leyen.
Two candidates, Czech MEP Martina Dlabajova from the Renew group, supported by Thierry Breton, and Anna Stellinger from the Confederation of Swedish Enterprise, had reached the final stage of the recruitment procedure obtaining better evaluations than Markus Pieper.