New EU envoy Markus Pieper quits before taking up post
Markus Pieper has decided not to take up his role as the EU’s small and medium-sized enterprises envoy, in a surprise U-turn following strong criticism over his appointment.
The last-minute decision comes after MEPs called on the European Commission to rescind Pieper’s appointment and after four EU commissioners (Josep Borrell, Thierry Breton, Paolo Gentiloni and Nicolas Schmit) criticised the controversial move.
The German MEP, who is a member of commission president Ursula von der Leyen’s domestic German Christian Democrats (CDU) party, was supposed to take the €17,000-per-month job on Tuesday (16 April) after signing his contract on 31 March.
But in his resignation statement, he said he would not now be able to work effectively with commissioner Breton, to whom he would report as the commissioner for the internal market.
"As Breton has already boycotted my taking office within the commission in advance, I currently see no possibility of fulfilling the legitimate expectations associated with the office." Pieper told the Handelsblatt, the German business daily.
Breton has called for the position to be filled as soon as possible.
"Transparency & collegiality are and should always remain our cardinal values," he said on social media platform X.
For her part, von der Leyen regretted Pieper’s decision and has decided to postpone reopening the selection process for the SME Envoy position until after the European elections.
"Pieper is a proven expert on SMEs and has prevailed in a multi-stage selection process," the commission said in a statement.
"The autonomy of each EU institution in appointing its senior officials must be respected," they also said.
The appointment of the German MEP sparked concerns and criticism when reports revealed that the other two female candidates — Czech liberal MEP Martina Dlabajová and Swedish Confederation of Swedish Enterprise deputy director general Anna Stellinger — rated at least 30 percent higher than Pieper in the recruitment assessments.
The commission’s own guidelines argue that any recruitment should be based on merit, gender balance and geographical balance.
Pieper’s resignation means he will be able to remain as MEP.
But the so-called ‘Piepergate’ saga will remain as a "dark story" on von der Leyen "inevitably affecting her chances for another mandate," Alberto Alemanno, professor of EU law at HEC Paris said.