Few workplaces allow you to hand your job over to a co-worker, while you look for a better-paid position elsewhere, and then give back your old job should the hunt fail. But the EU Commission is no ordinary workplace.
This is the position Margrethe Vestager now finds herself in. The Danish politician took on the role of EU competition chief in 2014 and is now hoping to move on to a different, better-paid position: president of the European Investment Bank (EIB).
Vestager this week announced that she is an official candidate for the presidency of the EIB. If she gains the top spot, she will receive the same monthly salary as EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, allowing her to earn tens of thousands more euros annually than a commissioner.
Vestager has little to lose. If she fails to land the job, she will be welcomed back as EU commissioner in charge of competition and digital policy. In the meantime, her seat is being kept warm by Didier Reynders, who will have to split his time between the competition responsibility and his current role as justice commissioner.
Vestager’s leave from her EU duties is unpaid but could pay off nicely in the end. A reassuring statement from Brussels said that von der Leyen
has granted the unpaid leave to Executive Vice-President Vestager, underlining that during that period the relevant provisions of the Treaties and the Code of Conduct for the Members of the Commission continue to apply.
The Dane is not the first to move from the Commission to greater things. Former Commission president José Manuel Barroso caused controversy in 2018 when he landed a job at Goldman Sachs after finishing his tenure. More recently, climate chief Frans Timmermans stepped down to focus on his campaign to become the next Dutch prime minister, and there is talk that von der Leyen might be eyeing the Secretary General’s position at NATO. But, in contrast to the options Vestager has, these didn’t have placeholders in their EU posts in case of unsuccessful applications.
The other role conducted by Vesteger, as executive vice president directing the EU towards a more digital future, is being taken up temporarily by Vera Jourova, who is already executive vice president for values and transparency.
To sum it up, other EU officials are being placed under a fair amount of pressure to allow Vestager to secure a more sizable pay packet.
