EGN NEWS DESK
It was a case of third time fortunate for Jozef Síkela.
First linked to the power portfolio, then to the commerce beat, the 57-year-old Czech lastly landed at DG INTPA — the inelegantly named Directorate General for International Partnerships.
Yet what may sound like a second-tier division is definitely a key component of Commission President Ursula von der Leyen’s imaginative and prescient of an financial international coverage guided by geopolitics. As steward of the €300 billion Global Gateway infrastructure initiative, Síkela will a minimum of have cash to play with as Brussels tries to compete with Beijing’s Belt and Road.
The ex-banker and business minister brings enterprise and crisis-management expertise to the desk. He beforehand gained respect for his coordination of Europe’s response to an power disaster — sparked by Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine — throughout Prague’s presidency of the Council in late 2022.
We’ll be bringing you all of the dwell motion from 2:30 p.m. CET on Nov. 6.
Watch dwell right here.
Background studying:
P.S.: If you wish to observe extra of the motion from the hearings, our reporters will likely be bringing you blow-by-blow updates from all 26 commissioner interviews right here.
