He is sorry”. Diedrick Samsom, who for five years was the chief of staff of the former European climate commissioner, Frans Timmermans, is in the middle of a career change. Unfortunately, he forgot to tell the Commission that his new job is to sell gas. He agreed to be thechairman of the supervisory board of the Dutch public companyGasuniethe local Engie.
According to Commission rules aimed atTo prevent undue influence, outgoing civil servants must seek permission to take up a position related to their previous work.“Due to an error on my part, the position was not properly notified to the Commission in a timely manner. I deeply regret it,” Diederick Samsom complains in a press release on the letterhead of his new employer.
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Hydrogen. The scandal did not prevent him from taking office on July 1… “This non-executive role presents no potential conflict of interest with my previous role. I will therefore wait for the Commission procedure, which has now been initiated,” he said. “Sorry,” but sure of his point. His ex-boss Frans Timmermans “greenwashes” him with gusto: “Gasunie wants to become the first company in green hydrogen, I can understand his choice. »
The career path of Diederick Samsom is an improbable mixture of genres. A Greenpeace activist in the Netherlands, he was director of climate and energy campaigns there, obviously anti-nuclear, before becoming leader of the Dutch Labor Party. Logically, in Brussels, where he was the architect of the Green Deal, the laws to reform the EU energy system with a view to climate virtue, he campaigned against the atom with all the impartiality of a Greenpeace activist. So here he is, selling gas and the warming that goes with it. The climate agrees, but not too much all the same.
