Malta finally represented in EU top civil service
Joanna Drake, who heads the European Commission’s representative office in Malta, has been appointed director within the Commission’s Directorate for Enterprise, becoming the first Maltese to make it to the top echelons of the EU civil service. Dr...
Joanna Drake, who heads the European Commission’s representative office in Malta, has been appointed director within the Commission’s Directorate for Enterprise, becoming the first Maltese to make it to the top echelons of the EU civil service.
Dr Drake’s appointment was officially announced by Commission vice president Sim Kallas yesterday following the last meeting of the College of Commissioners whose mandate ends on Saturday. The Commission will continue on a caretaker basis until a new one is appointed.
Malta had been the only member state that did not have a citizen occupying a post in the level of director general or director in the EU’s bureaucracy, despite such a post was earmarked specifically for a Maltese candidate.
Several people, including ambassadors, a serving Labour MEP and other high-ranking government officials, had applied for such posts in the past but they were all turned down due to insufficient experience or qualifications.
Commission sources said Dr Drake’s appointment was a sigh of relief because the EU Executive was eager to have a citizen from all the new member states occupying important positions before its official mandate ended.
“Dr Drake managed to beat 126 other candidates from all over the EU who applied for the post,” a senior Commission official said.
Contacted, Dr Drake expressed her satisfaction at securing such an important appointment and said she would be dedicating her energy to the promotion of small and medium enterprises within the Commission.
“I will be the interlocutor for SMEs in the Commission and this is a very important issue for the EU and its well-being,” Dr Drake said.
Dr Drake, a lawyer by profession, has been involved in EU affairs since her University days. In 2004, she had contested Malta’s first European Parliament elections on behalf of the Nationalist Party.
The Labour Party yesterday congratulated Dr Drake and said her new post did Malta proud, adding that the Maltese had a lot to offer to European institutions.