Farewell to Schönfelder

Wilhelm Schönfelder, Germany's permanent representative to the EU, will go into retirement at the end of July, having steered Germany's presidency of the EU safely home. He will be replaced after the summer by Edmund Duckwitz, currently Germany's ambassador to NATO. Perhaps his greatest service to German politics has been to stay in his post until the age of 67. Germany's CDU-SPD coalition is currently battling to increase the retirement age to 67 but is facing opposition from the new Left party of Oskar Lafontaine. Schönfelder departs as the longest-serving member of the committee of permanent representatives with eight years of service. The next longest serving is Finland's Eikka Kosonen, who started on 1 January 2002. France's Pierre Sellal runs him close. He started on 21 May 2002 having been deputy permanent representative in 1992-97.