The directorates-general at the heart of the European Commission are being reorganised so that they are in line with the new commissioners’ portfolios.

Beyond the reorganisation of services relating to the transfer of powers – for example state aid for transport is now being dealt with by DG Competition – the Commission announced, on 17 February, the creation of two new directorates-general: DG Energy (ENER) and DG Climate (CLIM). They will be headed by Britain’s Philip Lowe and Belgium’s Jos Delbeke, respectively. The former is currently director-general of DG Competition, the latter deputy director-general of DG Environment. DG Energy will combine the different units related to this sector from the former DG Transport and Energy together with the Task Force Energy from DG External Relations. As for DG Climate, this will be created from the climate-related activities of DG Environment, DG External Relations (everything related to international negotiations on climate change) and DG Industry. DG Transport and Energy (TREN) has been renamed DG Mobility and Transport (MOVE).

Among the other appointments announced on the same day were those of Christian Leffler (Sweden) as deputy director-general of DG Development and relations with African, Caribbean and Pacific states, and Rudolf Strohmeier (Germany), as deputy director-general in DG Research. A new research task force has also been created, which will launch a strategic reflection on the evolution of the research budget reserved for this sector, externalisation of the management of research programmes and the links between research and other policies in organisational terms.