The European Commission on Tuesday named a new deputy director-general in the migration and home affairs department — and, to the surprise of many, it’s a Brit.
Simon Mordue, a director in the enlargement department, will start his new job on December 1, but the choice of a British official for a senior EU job after the Brexit vote has caused anger, with Italy’s deputy foreign minister calling it “a scandal.”
“In his new role, Mr. Mordue will be in charge of key EU policies in the area of migration and home affairs and, notably, the European agenda for migration,” said a Commission memo on the appointment. He’s an experienced Eurocrat, having worked in the private offices of commissioners Günter Verheugen and Štefan Füle.
“Why do we keep on appointing Brits to key positions?” Mario Giro, deputy Italian foreign minister, told POLITICO during a donor conference for the Central African Republic last week. He was already aware that Mordue was in line for a promotion, remembering him as “the one that negotiated the [migration] deal with Turkey,” referring to the fact that Mordue, in his previous position at the enlargement department, was director for strategy and Turkey.
“We are strongly against it,” Giro said of his new appointment.