Mogherini appoints Manservisi as head of private office

Manservisi brings a wealth of experience to the position.

Federica Mogherini, the European Union’s incoming foreign policy chief, has chosen Stefano Manservisi to head her private office.

Manservisi is a long-time European Commission official, who has previously headed the private offices of Mario Monti and of Romano Prodi. He joined the European External Action Service only recently, becoming ambassador to Turkey in April, having been named to the post in February.

The appointment of Manservisi, who has spent more than 30 years in the Commission, is a swift initial response to the request made by Jean-Claude Juncker, the incoming Commission president, that Mogherini should ensure that half of the staff of her private office are drawn from the Commission. It will also go some way to meet criticism that Mogherini herself lacks experience. Manservisi, who turns 60 this month, is one of the most experienced Italians in the EU institutions.

As well as working for a succession of Italian European commissioners – Filippo Maria Pandolfi, Raniero Vanni d’Archirafi, Monti, and Prodi – he also has experience in Commission departments. He joined the Commission’s agriculture department in 1983, but then switched to the department for development in 1987. He was director-general for development (2004-10) and then director-general for home affairs (2010-14), in which position he has had some delicate work to do in the field of foreign affairs as the EU revised its migration policy.

Manservisi’s experience and standing in Brussels is far ahead of the background of James Morrison, who has been head of the private office of Catherine Ashton, the current EU foreign policy chief, since Ashton was the European commissioner for trade.

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Indeed, it may awaken fears inside the EEAS that Manservisi could be a counterweight to the leadership of the EEAS. That leadership itself is about to undergo some change. Pierre Vimont, the secretary-general, a French diplomat is expected to retire shortly. David O’Sullivan, the chief operating officer, is to become the EU’s ambassador in Washington. (He was Manservisi’s predecessor as head of Prodi’s office.) The EEAS’s own review recommended a slimming-down of the top layer of management. In addition to Vimont and O’Sullivan, there are also two deputy secretaries-general: Maciej Popowski and Helga Schmid.