Competition for position in the Council of Europe: This Belgian is Berset’s biggest competitor

But he is not the only one who wants the EU position. The incumbent EU Commissioner for Justice Didier Reynders (65) has also registered his interest. He will probably be Berset’s biggest competitor. Who is the man and what are Berset’s chances?

Appreciated by King and von der Leyen

Reynders can look back on a twenty-year career as a minister. He was sworn in as Minister of Finance of Belgium by King Albert II (89) in 1999, before becoming Minister of Foreign Affairs in 2011. In 2019, the government in Brussels appointed him as EU Commissioner under Commission President Ursula von der Leyen (65).

He belongs to the liberal party Mouvement Réformateur and was already interested in the position of general secretary in 2019. He lost to the Croatian Marija Pejcinovic Buric (60). She doesn’t want to run anymore.

Reynders has repeatedly attracted the attention of the media in recent months. For example, when he announced last year in his role as Commissioner for Justice that the EU had frozen more than 17 billion euros in Russian assets as part of the sanctions package against Russia.

He also made a name for himself when he fought with Poland and Hungary for greater rule of law. He was criticized when the EU released blocked billions for Hungary in December. Reynders said at the time that Hungary had met all agreed requirements with its recent judicial reforms.

Even though the Council of Europe has nothing to do with the EU, most states are members of both organizations and his career makes Reynders the ideal candidate. He is also considered very well connected internationally. On the other hand, he has already been rejected once.

Choice in the summer

Estonian social democrat and actor Indrek Saar (50) also wants to submit his application for the position of general secretary. However, the former Estonian Minister of Culture is little known internationally and his candidacy should not pose a threat to Berset.

The position is awarded by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe for a period of five years. The Committee of Ministers wants to hold separate job interviews with the three applicants in March and draw up a final list of candidates. This is then sent to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe. She will then make the decision in June 2024. He is scheduled to take office in September. (she)