Duitsland verrast met keuze nieuwe Eurocommissaris (en)
Germany's next EU commissioner is to be Guenther Oettinger, the minister president of Baden-Wuerttemberg, a politician with no European profile who did not expect to be offered the job.
The announcement was made over the weekend following negotiations between Chancellor Angela Merkel i's Christian Democrats (CDU) and the their future coalition partner, the Liberals (FDP).
Mrs Merkel's decision surprised politicians both at home and in Brussels, having deviated from a widely quoted shortlist that had included interior minister Wolfgang Schaeuble and centre-right MEP Elmar Brok.
The 56-year old Mr Oettinger, who is an economics expert and originally studied law, has led the economically powerful region since 2005.
He is not seen as being very close to the chancellor, who forced him to distance himself from remarks in 2007 when he played down the Nazi past of Hans Filbinger, one of his predecessors as minister president.
German media portray the decision as Mrs Merkel seeking to remove him from the national stage after he became a thorn in her side over the years. Most recently, he crossed the chancellor by refusing to play ball on budget issues during the ongoing coalition negotiations. In Baden-Wuerttemberg itself, his popularity has been on the wane.
The Financial Times Deutschland carried a piece on Sunday (25 October) headlined: "Oettinger feels he has been dumped in Brussels."
For his part, Mr Oettinger, who will take over from the social democrat Guenter Verheugen in charge of industry, said he was looking for "the bigger economic picture," referring to his pending move to Brussels. He denied he was pressured to go the EU capital saying such offers are only made "once."
Brussels taken by surprise
Brussels was apparently also wrong-footed. The Kolner Stadt-Anzeiger says EU commission president Jose Manuel Barroso, in charge of dealing out the portfolios to the various commissioners, telephoned German politicians in Brussels and asked "what's all this about?"
EU interpreters may also be asking the same question in future. Mr Oettinger speaks a strong Swabian dialect, with his region making a play on the strength of the dialect and accent, which Germans from other regions find difficult to understand.
Public relations posters for Baden-Wuerttemberg say: "We can do everything except speak standard German [Wir koennen alles. Ausser Hochdeutsch)]."
While Berlin will be looking for a strong portfolio in the next commission and like other capitals will be lobbying hard to this end, the decision ultimately lies with Mr Barroso.
The commission's new lineup is set to be a hot topic when EU leaders gather for a summit in Brussels at the end of the week. Its current mandate runs out on 31 October.
Delays in ratification of the Lisbon Treaty, a new set of EU institutional rules, in the Czech Republic is to see a late re-appointment of the EU executive, with member states keen to get the new team up and running as soon as possible.
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