Italian Chiocchetti new Secretary General of the EU Parliament

(dpa)

In a controversial decision, Italian Alessandro Chiocchetti has been appointed as the new Secretary General of the European Parliament. On January 1, he succeeds German Klaus Welle, who has held the post since 2009. The Secretary General is the highest ranking official in the European Parliament.

The appointment was preceded by a controversial debate about possible backroom deals. The post is awarded by the 14 Vice Presidents of the EU Parliament and five so-called quaestors – i.e. by 19 party representatives. The news portal “Politico” reported that Chiocchetti’s appointment was preceded by a deal that would create a top post in parliament for the left.

According to a parliamentary statement, the EPP candidate Chiocchetti had a “large majority” in the body – but who exactly voted for him remained open.

The Greens and the Social Democrats reacted to the allocation of posts with clear criticism. The head of the parliamentary administration with more than 8,000 employees was selected after each candidate had introduced himself for ten minutes, said Green Vice President of Parliament Heidi Hautala. “This is completely inadequate and does not even begin to meet the requirements for filling senior positions in Parliament.” Chiocchetti was previously the head of cabinet for the President of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola.

Deals in the allocation of posts are not uncommon for other EU institutions, but the European Parliament has so far been rather inconspicuous in this regard. In February 2018, the then head of cabinet of ex-EU Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker was promoted to secretary-general of the Brussels authority in a flash – there were suspicions that Juncker had given his confidant the top post. The European Parliament concluded the type of appeal “could be seen as a coup-like action”.