European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker has appointed Ann Mettler, executive director of the Lisbon Council, a think tank she founded to promote Europe’s economic competitiveness and social renewal, as head of the European Union’s new policy advice service.
Mettler will take on the role as chief of the European Commission's new European Strategic Policy Centre (ESPC) starting immediately.
The choice of Mettler, who is well known in Brussels circles, was widely appreciated. “She will have much to contribute,” said Anne Glover, the EU’s outgoing Chief Science Adviser (CSA), on Twitter.
The ESPC is the revamped and re-branded Bureau for European Policy Advisors (BEPA). BEPA staff were told on Tuesday they would not transfer to the ESPC automatically, but would have to reapply for their jobs.
No room for a chief scientist
The ESPC will form research clusters around five broad themes: social affairs, institutional affairs, economy, sustainable development and foreign affairs. There will also be an outreach and communications team.
As is currently the case with BEPA, ESPC will be directly accountable to the Commission President’s office and the service will be open to any Commissioner who requests strategic insight or long-term policy advice.
When it was announced in November, ESPC caused a stir for not making provision for a CSA, an office that was part of BEPA. It has since become unlikely that the post of chief science adviser will be retained under Juncker.
Plans for re-jigging BEPA were first floated in May before the European elections, when Juncker was running for office.
Director for Europe
Mettler was executive director and co-founder of The Lisbon Council, a Brussels-based think tank and policy network. Prior to founding the organisation, she served as Director for Europe at the World Economic Forum from 1997-2000.
From 1997-2000, Mettler held positions on the Governmental Affairs Committee of the United States Senate, at a strategic advisory firm in Washington, DC and the foreign policy division of the European Commission, Brussels.
History of the service
The lineage of the EU’s policy advice service dates back to 1989 when the then-President, Jacques Delors, created the Forward Studies Unit. Following criticism from some quarters, the unit was re-organised in 2000.
BEPA was created in 2004 by Barroso. He tweaked the office in 2010 when he switched its focus from three areas – political, economic and societal – to two: outreach and analysis.
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