EUROPEAN COMMISSION Staff

EEAS appointments trigger mini-reshuffle

By Simon Taylor and Toby Vogel - 28.10.2010 / 05:19 CET

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Fact file

EEAS headquarters

Catherine Ashton, the European Union's foreign policy chief, has decided that the headquarters of the European External Action Service (EEAS) should be the Capital building on Rond-Point Schuman.

Her spokesperson said that the decision was based on consultations with member states, the European Commission and MEPs, and that the building, owned by the banking and insurance group Axa, was the “most cost-effective” solution for the new service, which is to be launched on 1 December. The EEAS will not pay rent for the first year and the building's owner will also contribute to the cost of adapting the building to the needs of the EEAS.

The appointments of Pierre Vimont, France's ambassador to the United States, as secretary-general of the EEAS, and of David O'Sullivan, the Commission's director-general for trade, as the EEAS's chief operating officer, were announced by Ashton on Monday (25 October). The two men will start work on 1 December, working from offices on the 12th floor of the Berlaymont building, the Commission's headquarters, close to Ashton. The service is expected to move into the Capital building by the middle of next year. Ashton, a vice-president of the Commission, will keep her office in the Berlaymont.