COLLEGE MEETING: European Commission appoints 3 Directors to its Directorates-General for Economic and Financial Affairs and Trade

The European Commission has today decided to appoint 3 Directors in its Directorates-General for Economic and Financial Affairs and Trade. Mr Massimo Suardi, an Italian national, is becoming Director for the ‘Economies of the Member States III’ in the Directorate-General for Economic and Financial Affairs (DG ECFIN). Mr Massimo Suardi joined the Commission from the Bank of Italy in 1996 and has since then worked in the area of economic and financial policy. He first became a Head of Unit in 2006 in DG ECFIN. He was Deputy Head of the Cabinets of two Vice-Presidents in charge of the Euro, Olli Rehn and, most recently, Valdis Dombrovskis. He has served, since June 2019, as Vice-President Dombrovskis‘ Head of Cabinet. Mr Reinhard Felke, a German national, has been appointed to the position of Director for the ‘Economies of the Member States II’ in DG ECFIN. Mr Felke, who has spent his career in the area of economic and financial policy, joined the Commission from the German public administration in the year 2000. He first became a Head of Unit in 2008. Between 2012 and 2014, he worked in the German Federal Ministry of Finance as Director for the ‘European Economic and Monetary Union’. Since 2014, he has served as Deputy Head of Cabinet for Commissioner Pierre Moscovici in charge of Economic and Financial Affairs, Taxation and Customs. Ms Renate Nikolay, a German national, is becoming Director for ‘Asia and Latin America’ in DG Trade. Ms Nikolay joined the Commission from the German public administration in 2003. Between 2004 and 2009, she was a Member of the Cabinets of two EU Trade Commissioners, Peter Mandelson and Catherine Ashton, and then continued as an Adviser to Catherine Ashton in her role as a High Representative/ Vice-President. In 2011, she became a Head of Unit in the Commission’s current Directorate-General for Justice and Consumers (DG JUST). Ms Nikolay is currently Head of Cabinet for Commissioner Věra Jourová in charge of Justice, Consumers and Gender Equality. The date of effect of all these appointments will be determined later.