‘Unthinkable’?
Selmayr last year interviewed to become the next EU ambassador to Switzerland, two officials familiar with the interview process told POLITICO. Selmayr did not respond to a request for comment at the time.
However, in the words of one Commission official, a Selmayr return would be “unthinkable” under the current boss of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, who runs a tight ship.
Selmayr resigned from his top civil servant role as von der Leyen secured her nomination, a concession to critics worried about too many German officials in the Commission’s highest echelons.
In an interview with a German news outlet last year, Selmayr said he wouldn’t be sad to return to Brussels.
But von der Leyen’s dominance, combined with Selmayr’s controversial leadership tactics, make a Commission comeback nearly impossible, two senior officials in the EU executive said in December. “As long as Ursula sits where she sits, Martin will spin around the EU rather than be in the EU,” one EU official said at the time. “She will keep him safely away not to erode her power. At the same time, he is also smart enough to realize that he has to stay away for now.”
Barbara Moens contributed to this article.
