Juncker struggles to fill Oettinger’s digital job

Carlos Moedas rebuffed entreaties to take the German’s portfolio.

Günther Oettinger’s shifting role at the European Commission is creating a personnel headache for President Jean-Claude Juncker.

The Commission chief is struggling to find a replacement to oversee Oettinger’s digital portfolio, which opened up after Juncker proposed promoting the German commissioner into the slot vacated by the Bulgarian Kristalina Georgieva’s departure for the World Bank. She’s a Commission vice president for the budget and human resources.

One leading candidate has rebuffed Juncker in recent days, leaving few obvious options to oversee hard-fought issues like copyright reform and a telecoms overhaul. People familiar with the search say a replacement may not be found until sometime early in the new year.

Carlos Moedas, the innovation commissioner, was offered the digital post earlier this month but wanted also to keep his current portfolio that includes research & development, according to two senior Commission officials. Juncker asked him to give that up, which the Portuguese commissioner for now has declined to do, the officials added.

Bulgaria could solve the problem by nominating a digitally savvy candidate to replace Georgieva but doesn’t have any outstanding contenders and would prefer another portfolio like regional aid, the sources said.

Publishers’ worry

The copyright file has been a top priority for Europe’s publishers, who have had Oettinger’s ear. The proposal on new copyright rules finalized by Oettinger earlier this autumn lets publishers seek payment from internet platforms that showcase their articles. The Commission draft is now going to the European Parliament, where MEP Therese Comodini Cachia will put together the necessary legislation by March. In an interview with POLITICO last week, she said Parliament would examine closely the proposed remedies offered to publishers.

Supporters of the package worry that the protections won by publishers may be diluted without a strong advocate at the digital helm in the Commission. Yet both Oettinger and Juncker, who has also sided with the publishers, would remain in the college of commissioners and retain sway over the file as it moves ahead through Parliament and then to the European Council.

“We don’t see this connected to Mr. Oettinger as a person, we don’t think any one person can influence the agenda,” said Christoph Keese, executive vice president of German publisher Axel Springer, which lobbied on behalf of the proposed copyright rules. “We would surely hope for him to support the proposal even if he left the portfolio,” he added. (Axel Springer co-owns POLITICO Europe and Keese sits on the publication’s board.)

The three possibilities

Oettinger will shepherd his and Georgieva’s files until the end of the year, when it’s likely he’ll be elevated to vice president. Even though he’ll probably have to face a parliamentary hearing first and wait for Bulgaria to pick its Commission representative, speculation immediately began about a replacement.

Moedas was one of the first names to be linked to Oettinger’s digital role. A Harvard University-educated former Goldman Sachs banker, he would represent a leap into the dark for many media and publishing types around Brussels. Besides Oettinger and his boss Vice President Andrus Ansip, Moedas has the most experience dealing with the file in the Commission, but his focus has been on academic and scientific publishers rather than news media.

“No decision has been taken with regard to Mr. Oettinger’s current portfolio after that date. Commissioner Moedas is therefore not commenting on rumors, no matter or persistent they might be,” a Commission spokesman said.

MEP Julia Reda, who is Parliament’s lone Pirate Party member and a vocal critic of the copyright proposal, called Moedas “a solid choice” for Oettinger’s job. “Commissioner Moedas is certainly one of the most qualified colleagues to take over, given that the digital portfolio, and the copyright directive in particular, has a strong connection to research policy,” she said.

Justice Commissioner Vĕra Jourová, who led the negotiations on the privacy shield data transfer agreement with the U.S., is also being considered, according to sources. Her office declined to comment.

Digital Vice President Ansip is only a distant possibility, according to two Commission sources. In any case, Ansip prefers overseeing and coordinating DG Connect rather than running it himself, said one source.

“It is the president of the European Commission according to the treaties who decides exclusively on the internal organization of the Commission. This is in the hands of President Juncker,” Ansip’s office said by email.

Oettinger’s office didn’t respond to requests for comment.

Bulgaria’s commissioner

As possible replacements for Georgieva’s national slot in the college of commissioners, Bulgaria is considering Iliyana Tsanova, deputy managing director of the European Fund for Strategic Investments; Lilyana Pavlova, minister of regional affairs; and Ekaterina Zaharieva, minister of justice, according to sources. They, along with Iliana Ivanova from the European Court of Auditors, who is also a contender, lack the digital skills for Oettinger’s role, they added.

Georgieva’s successor is expected to be named by an interim government in Sofia. After the November 13 victory of pro-Russian socialist Rumen Radev as president, Prime Minister Boyko Borissov resigned within a day. The current President Rosen Plevneliev is expected to appoint cabinet ministers to serve in a caretaker administration before parliamentary elections are held early next year.

Laurens Cerulus and Joanna Plucinska contributed reporting.

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