Politics

The Co Clare man taking over as von der Leyen’s acting chief of staff

Irish barrister turned backroom adviser steps up to powerful EU commission job

Irish man Anthony Whelan with European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen. Photograph: EC Audiovisual Service

Jack Power
Tue Apr 9 2024 - 13:08

A Co Clare man known as a low-key but effective operator in Brussels has temporarily taken over as European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen’s chief of staff.

Anthony Whelan (55), a trained barrister turned senior EU back room adviser, has stepped up into the high-profile position until early June.

Last week it was announced the head of cabinet, Björn Seibert, was taking temporary leave from the post, to run Dr von der Leyen’s campaign to secure a second term as commission president. Mr Seibert is seen as a powerful figure in the Brussels bubble, with Dr von der Leyen known to consolidate influence among a tight group of trusted lieutenants.

Mr Whelan joined Dr von der Leyen’s team in late 2019 as her adviser on digital policy. Records show he has been her point person dealing with large tech multinationals, meeting executives from Facebook owner Meta, Google, Amazon, Stripe, Microsoft and others in recent years.

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He has also met executives from several telecom companies, such as Huawei, Vodafone and Nokia, according to a register of senior EU officials’ meetings. One of his roles in the cabinet had been to link in with Margrethe Vestager, the EU’s digital and competition commissioner, best known in Ireland for pursuing Apple over its tax bill.

[ Von der Leyen vows to defend democracy as she aims for second European Commission president term ]

Mr Whelan was described as being “very effective in a non-flashy way” by one EU official who worked with him previously. The fact that he was chosen as acting head of cabinet by Dr von der Leyen would indicate the level of trust the commission president has in him.

Before joining her cabinet, he had been the commission’s director of electronic communications networks and services. He previously worked as head of cabinet for Neelie Kroes, a Dutch politician who served as commissioner for competition and for the digital agenda, between 2008 and 2013.

Originally from Scariff, he is a former pupil of Cistercian College Roscrea, the Co Tipperary fee-paying school. After school he studied law in Trinity College Dublin, where he was heavily involved with the Hist debating society.

He trained as a barrister but returned to Trinity for a stint as a lecturer in public law in his mid 20s. One colleague from the time remembered him as being a “very bright” lecturer, but also “a young man in a hurry”. He was viewed as popular with students and actively contributed to legal debates going on at the time.

[ Fianna Fáil MEP accuses von der Leyen of ‘silence’ on genocide case against Israel ]

His move to work within the EU institutions happened as a result of former Supreme Court judge Nial Fennelly’s appointment as an advocate general in the European Court of Justice. “Word went round that he would be putting together a cabinet. I decided, a bit opportunistically, to throw my hat in the ring. Ultimately it worked out and he asked me to join him. It was a relatively unplanned move,” Mr Whelan previously told Trinity law student publication The Eagle.

After five years he joined the legal service of the commission, leading on a high profile case involving Microsoft in 2006, where the tech giant was fined a record €500 million over competition breaches.

One source who has known Mr Whelan for decades described him as an “immensely honourable” person. He had a good sense of humour and was well liked by colleagues, they said.

The commission, usually a conveyor-belt of EU law making, is unlikely to introduce any fresh proposals before the European elections in two months’ time. However, there is still a large amount of work ongoing across a range of areas, not least behind the scenes preparations for what happens if Donald Trump wins the US presidential election in November.

Jack Power

Jack Power

Jack Power is acting Europe Correspondent of The Irish Times

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