This is pretty strange. Top EU officials are moved to and fro round the Commission without all Commisssioners being told in advance:

European Commission President José Manuel Barroso today (3 December) announced a far-reaching reshuffle of his senior officials, surprising several commissioners and raising questions about how the top jobs are allocated.

Barroso presented the moves at Wednesday’s meeting of commissioners, but several of those around the table were unhappy about being presented with a fait accompli.

The reshuffle had not been put on the agenda of the meeting until yesterday morning. Barroso and Siim Kallas, the commissioner for administration, circulated a list of appointments ahead of the meeting to those commissioners whose departments were affected by the reshuffle, but not to the others…

The discussion became acrimonious as commissioners complained about being kept in the dark. Some argued that the surprise announcement was not in keeping with the spirit of the college.

Barroso, forced on the defensive, cut the discussion short.

Always best to bottle things up and not discuss problems.