GERMAN STRONGMAN ON THE RISE? - America And Britain's Future
The following articles are from Wikipedia and EUObserver. Please take time to acquaint yourself with the career of this very capable still young fifty-two-year-old German-European leading politician Martin Selmayr.
After serving as Secretary-General to the European Commission President Jean Claud Junker for three years, he was shuffled off to Vienna to get him out of Brussels before the arrival of Junker’s chosen replacement.
It appears Selmayr wanted the position handed over to him, but he was denied the opportunity of holding the most powerful position in the European Union Government at this time in favor of a safer, more manageable candidate.
Selmayr The Man
Considering Selmayr’s already impressive resumé we can agree that he has great ability. But according to British twenty year former member of the European Parliament Nigel Farage, comparing Selmayr with those on the EU negotiating team who beat up on the British, this was nothing compared to the power wielded by Selmayr.
With this attitude toward wielding power, he may be the man to fill the position of the coming European Dictator!
Three To Become One
There are three major Presidencies over the EU form of government. The most influential is the EU Commission President, there is also the EU Council President, and the EU Parliament President.
Soon all three will be merged into one powerful Dictator Presidency to rival the power of the US President.
If it is not Selmayr who steps into power, there are other ambitious men in European politics who see Europe in need of a strongman President!
They can afford to play the waiting game while twenty-three European Nations merged their military into the German Armed Forces, and Germany has said they will pay for Nuclear Weapons!
As one prominent British Parliamentarian commented on the European Union Government, “IT IS NOT A DEMOCRACY AT ALL!” And it is waiting for someone such as Selmayr to take control when the time is right.
I am warning that this will mean the most serious trouble for America and Britain!
Brian Harris
From Wikipedia
Martin Salmayr
Martin Selmayr born 5 December 1970 is a European civil servant from Germany who was Secretary-General of the European Commission from 2018 to 2019 and Chief of Staff to Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker from 2014 to 2018.
During his time in the Juncker Commission, Selmayr was widely described as one of the most influential figures within the European Union.
After taking office as Secretary-General, he was described in a debate in the European Parliament as “the most powerful bureaucrat in the world.”
A resident of Brussels since 2000, he is a member of the Christian Democratic and Flemish (CD&V) party of Belgium. He is considered by many to be close to the Christian Democratic Union of Germany and its leadership, but the European Commission said he has never been a member of that party.
Early Life And Career
Selmayr studied law at the University of Geneva, before earning his PhD at the University of Passau. He worked for the European Central Bank from 1998 to 2000, before joining the media conglomerate Bertelsmann as a legal adviser in Brussels in 2001. He eventually became Bertelsmann’s vice president for legal affairs and government relations and head of the Brussels office.
European Commission
In 2004, he first joined the European Commission as a civil servant. He went on to serve in a variety of roles, firstly as Commission Spokesperson for Information Society and Media, before becoming Head of Cabinet to the Commissioner for Justice, Fundamental Rights and Citizenship, Viviane Reding.
He was appointed by the commission, as a Principal Adviser to the Directorate-General for Economic and Financial Affairs, and as a Director at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development.
In early 2014, Jean-Claude Juncker won the nomination of the European People’s Party (EPP) to be their candidate for President of the European Commission.
Juncker appointed Selmayr his campaign director, and after the EPP emerged as the largest party in the European Parliament following the election in May 2014, Selmayr became the head of the Juncker transition team. After taking office as president on 1 November 2014, Juncker made Selmayr his Head of Cabinet and Chief of Staff.
Shortly after his appointment, various media reports began to profile Selmayr as a highly influential figure within EU politics, with Politico describing him as “the most powerful EU chief of staff ever” in November 2016, noting that even Jean-Claude Juncker jokingly referred to Selmayr by the nickname “THE MONSTER”
Tomáš Prouza, the Czech State Secretary for European Affairs, stated publicly that “when I need a decision to be taken…I talk to Martin”. In October 2017, he was accused in the British media of leaking details relating to Brexit negotiations, though Selmayr denied these accusations.
Secretary-General
Selmayr was appointed Deputy Secretary-General of the European Commission in February 2018. Minutes after this appointment, Juncker informed the European Commissioners that the then Secretary-General, Alexander Italianer, intended to retire; they had not been previously notified of this. On 1 March 2018, following the formal retirement of Italianer, Selmayr was approved by the College of Commissioners to replace him as Secretary-General.
His Appointment Questioned
Some media sources claimed that support for Selmayr had been “bought”, and with others claiming that Selmayr had “FORCED” HIS WAY INTO THE POSITION. The President of the European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker reportedly threatened to resign if the controversy led to Selmayr’s dismissal. On 25 March 2018, the Commission issued a formal statement claiming that Selmayr’s promotion was in accordance with legal procedures.
The European Ombudsman contested the LIGHTNING-QUICK APPOINTMENT of Selmayr from Deputy Secretary-General to Secretary-General, found instances of “maladministration” and concluded that the Commission “did not follow EU law”. The Ombudsman’s statement was rejected by the commission.
He Had Been Editing Wikipedia!
In the immediate aftermath of his appointment as Secretary-General of the European Commission it was reported that SELMAYR HAD BEEN EDITING WIKIPEDIA using his own name from an account using a verified ec.europa.eu email address.
Librarian’s Note: The Commission stated that he did so to correct specific information including his work positions as well as political and Religious Affiliations, supposed to be done in direct interaction with a Wikipedia editor, who checked and verified all information… and ensured that it is properly referenced. Seemingly to Selmayr’s approval, End.
Selmayr resigned as Secretary-General on 1 August 2019, having held the office for less time than any of his predecessors; it was speculated that the decision by the European Council to nominate Ursula von der Leyen as replacement for Juncker as Commission President was a factor behind the decision.
He was subsequently appointed as the EU’s Permanent Representative to Austria.
The above from Wikipedia
EUObserver Article:
Selmayr Moved to Vienna Before Von De Loams Arrival!
After months of speculation on what will happen to arguably the most-powerful and most-talked about man in Brussels, Martin Selmayr, the EU Commission revealed on Wednesday (24 July) that from 1 November the controversial German will lead the EU executive’s representation in Vienna.
Selmayr will leave his current job as the EU’s top civil servant this week, and serve as special advisor to commission president Jean-Claude Juncker for the remainder of this commission’s mandate.
From November on, he will head the EU commission’s Vienna representation, which means he will represent the bloc in a sort of ambassadorial role. “The five years of the Jean-Claude Juncker commission would be inconceivable without his contribution,” commissioner for human resources, Guenther Oettinger, said Wednesday, on the news.
“Most people are grateful to him, and those who are not grateful to him, at least have respect for him,” the fellow German added.
In the commission’s statement, Selmayr was praised for “outstanding qualities and achievements”, and “his strong commitment to the community method and his extraordinary sense of duty”.
Selmayr has been teaching EU law at the University of Saarbrucken in Germany and at the Europe-University of Krems in Austria, which he will continue to do.
The German lawyer was feared and admired, often at the same time, for his bright intellect, ruthless leadership style and indefatigable working methods. He wanted to shake up the comfortable and apolitical bureaucracy of the Brussels bubble and he did.
For a spin doctor who likes influence and power, however, the Austrian capital might prove to be too sleepy – his appointment as Vienna EU ambassador came as a surprise to many, as he is “genetically incapable to rest”, as one source put it.
Last week, as another German, former defence minister Ursula von der Leyen, won enough votes in the European parliament to become the new EU commission president, it became clear Selmayr would have to go.
Rise to the top
Von der Leyen wanted to please MEPs, and avoid having to deal with protecting a controversial figure not of her choosing at the start of her tenure.
With the EU commission presidency going to a German, and a fellow Christian Democrat, questions had been also raised whether the commission’s civil servants should also be led by a German, in a community of 28 member states.
Moreover, the European Parliament already last year complained that Selmayr’s promotion to his current job as the secretary general of the EU commission was “coup-like”.
The EU’s top watchdog also said last September that Selmayr’s swift appointment to the job was wrong and risked undermining the public’s trust in the EU institution.
The number of Selmayr’s enemies grew with his promotion, but he had already irritated many as the head of Juncker’s cabinet in the previous years.
Some EU ambassadors complained that he misled them, while some commissioners were irked that they did not have direct access to Juncker, only to Selmayr.
But nobody questioned his allegiance to the EU, his hard work, his political capabilities, and his knowledge of the EU law.
Selmayr started off in Brussels as a legal advisor for the German media company, Bertelsmann. In 2004, he joined the commission, first becoming the spokesman for Luxembourg’s commissioner for media, Viviane Reding. Later on, he became her head of cabinet.
As the 2014 European election campaign kicked off, Selmayr became Juncker’s campaign director and after the election win, Juncker’s head of transition team. Controversy was already Selmayr’s stock-in-trade back then.
There had been more recent speculation that he would get a top commission positing in London or Washington, or return to the European Central Bank (ECB), where he had worked before.
But until November, he will stay on in the Berlaymont, the commission’s headquarters, where he built his formidable reputation, advising not only the outgoing but also the incoming commission president.
At the bureaucracy’s helm, he will temporarily be replaced by his Latvian deputy, Ilze Juhansone, who has been serving as a deputy secretary-general since 2015.
Above article from The EUObserver.
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