Barroso to announce EU commission jobs

New European Commission chief José Manuel Barroso will announce a carve-up of the EU’s top policy jobs at a press conference on Thursday afternoon.

The EU's 24 incoming policy chiefs will learn of their departmental briefs hours before the former Portuguese leader informs the media at 3.00pm Brussels time (1.00pm GMT).

Germany, France and the UK are pressing hard for key policy portfolios related to the economy, trade and competition.

Berlin is set to take a Brussels vice-presidency for Günther Verheugen in a push to put the economy at the heart of the EU executive.

Media reports indicate that Verhuegen – EU enlargement chief under Romano Prodi’s administration – will scoop a post as ‘industry commissioner’.

The top-job would combine the existing ‘enterprise’ department – currently held by the Finn Olli Rehn – with a vice-presidency role of scrutinising all EU legislation.

In a bid to make good on a four-year old pledge to make Europe the world’s most competitive economy by 2010, Verheugen will be checking EU diktat is decentralised, economically effective and free from red-tape.

Spain's commissioner Joaquin Almunia is likely to move from economic and monetary affairs to take the EU's external relations job and a Brussels vice-presidency.

But he will be replaced by Javier Solana when Europe's foreign policy chief enters the EU executive as vice-president and European 'foreign minister' in 2006 or 2007.

Barroso's new policy line-up, according to reports, will embrace several commission vice-presidents despite the former Portuguese leader's insistence that commissioners will be equal.

France is unlikely to secure the top spot EU competition role as Paris is too often the subject of commission free-market probes.

But French commissioner Jacques Barrot – holding the regional policy brief at present – may get transport and energy, a portfolio with a strong economic and competition element.

New UK commissioner Peter Mandelson is expected to step into Pascal Lamy shoes as EU trade chief.

Other key posts among the 25-member EU executive, with one commissioner for each member state, include competition, internal market, agriculture and fiscal policy.

Danish EU commissioner-designate Mariann Fischer Boel is set to get the agriculture, according to press reports.

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