The Diplomat
María de Los Ángeles Benítez Salas will be the new Director of the European Commission Representation in Madrid as of 1 April, the European Commission announced yesterday.
Benítez Salas, who will replace Francisco Fonseca Morillo (director of the representation in two different periods, between 2009 and 2015 and between 2018 and 2021, with Aránzazu Beristáin as head between the two mandates), “brings with her a wide range of experience as well as her management expertise gained during her 35 years in the European Commission”, according to the Commission.
The new director joined the Commission in 1986 as a member of the Cabinet of Commissioner Abel Matutes. Between 1993 and 1997, she assumed the function of principal adviser at the Commission Delegation in Buenos Aires and on her return to Brussels she was appointed head of unit in the Directorate-General for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries (MARE). In 2013 she became Deputy Head of the Bureau of European Policy Advisers (BEPA) and later Deputy Head of the European Policy Strategy Centre (EPSC) and was currently Deputy Director-General of the Directorate-General for Agriculture and Rural Development (AGRI).
The Commission maintains representations in all capitals of the EU Member States, the heads of which act as official representatives of the Commission in each country under the political authority of President Ursula von der Leyen. In addition, the EU executive has a regional office in Barcelona similar to those in other non-capital cities, such as Bonn, Marseille, Milan, Munich and Wroclaw (Poland). Alongside María Ángeles Benítez, the Commission yesterday appointed Zane Petre and Jerneja Jug Jerše to head its representations in Riga (Latvia) and Ljubljana (Slovenia) from 16 April.
“The Representations are the Commission’s eyes, ears and voice on the ground in EU Member States”, Brussels said. Heads of Representations are nominated by the Commission Presidency and act under the Commission’s authority in promoting permanent political dialogue with national, regional and local authorities, as well as parliaments, social partners and civil society. The Representations also advise the President and the rest of the Commission on the situation in the country and provide information about the action of the Commission and the EU to the media.
Benítez Salas will assume the representation of Brussels in Madrid at a particularly intense time for the EU and for Spain, with such crucial challenges as overcoming the COVID-19 pandemic, the European vaccination strategy, the problems of mobility in the European area and Schengen, economic recovery through the European Fund and the new multiannual budget, the recent exit of the United Kingdom from the Union or the preparation of the Conference on the Future of the EU, to mention some of the most immediate ones.
