Germans out in front

Appointment puts Germany ahead in the director-general race.

Europe’s economic difficulties have created employment opportunities for one very select group: German former directors-general in the European Commission.

Last year, Klaus Regling, sometime director-general for economic and financial affairs, was appointed chief executive of the eurozone’s rescue fund, the European Financial Stability Facility. Now Horst Reichenbach, who was director-general for consumer policy, then for personnel and administration, and then enterprise and industry, is to be retrieved from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, where he has worked since 2005.

He has been appointed head of a taskforce that is being set up to help Greece implement its economic reform programmes. Reichenbach will have the rank of director-general.

In the Commission, where they keep an eye on these things, there are five Germans in director-general posts – Dirk Ahner, Walter Deffaa, Karl Falkenberg, Matthias Ruete and Walter Radermacher – which compares with five each for France, the UK and Italy. But Reichenbach’s appointment, which takes effect on 1 September, puts Germany ahead of the pack.

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