The Finnish Prime Minister has announced he could take Rehn’s place, who will not be confirmed after two mandates
After two mandates, Olli Rehn will no longer be a Commissioner of the European Union. Whichever idea he had, it seems that the current Finnish Prime Minister, the 42-year-old conservative Jyrki Katainen decided things should go otherwise. Katainen has in fact announced that he is to leave his post by June, because he is “interested” to a possible appointment in Brussels (given that the government decides about it, he has made his own calculations then). Actually, Katainen – one of the ‘hawks’ of austerity, able to save his country from being downgraded from AAA by rating agencies and to get 15 votes of confidence in about a couple of years – could not be interested in Rehn’s place, aiming at something different. “I am attracted by the international stage,” he said in an unexpected speech earlier last week, “It’s so satisfactory to see that your work can be determining onto the international stage.”
It will hence be necessary to choose another Prime Minister in Helsinki, while Rehn, whose party is now at the opposition in Finland, wanted to run for the Commission Presidency and had to choose for a “high-profile” economic post instead, running to become MEP – waiting for a new collocation.
