Barroso Commission - Civil Service

Civil Service

The Secretary-General for this term was Catherine Day, appointed in 2005. She was the first woman to hold the post and took over from David O'Sullivan. Early favorite François Lamoureux, previously in charge of Transport, had health problems and his being infirm was seen as a political blow to France and a final break from the Delors era, instead giving the Commission a more liberal outlook. Commissioner Kallas stressed the appointments were on merit, resisting pressure from national capitals.

Ms. Day was part of a vast reshuffle of Commission officials by the President after he came to power. The reshuffle was welcomed by the right-wing as the new directors-general, including Ms. Day, were liberal reformers, many British and German. A move which did not go down well with France, symbolic of their loss of influence, who were opposed to Ms. Day due to her liberal economic reforms. Indeed, Ms. Day became very notable in the Commission for her opposition to French state aid policies.

Concern has been expressed by Commissioners such as Günter Verheugen in regards to overlap of mandates and fractionalisation of the Commission's Directorates-General, leading to "turf-wars" and a lack of coordination. A great deal of the Commission's effort is expended in this in-fighting and weaker Commissioners, such as Verheugen, have not been able to gain sufficient control over their department.