He is “sor-ry”. Diedrick Samsom, who for the past five years has been the chief of staff of the former European Commissioner for Climate, Frans Timmermans, is in the middle of a career change. Unfortunately, he forgot to tell the Commission that his new job is selling gas. He has agreed to be theChairman of the Supervisory Board of the Dutch public companyGasuniethe local Engie.
According to the Commission’s rules aimed atTo prevent undue influence, outgoing officials 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 good time. I deeply regret this,” Diederick Samsom laments in a statement headed by his new employer.
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Hydrogen. The scandal did not prevent him from taking up his duties on 1 July… “This non-executive role does not present any potential conflict of interest with my previous role. I will therefore await the Commission procedure, which has now been initiated,” he said. “Sorry”, but sure of his facts. His former boss Frans Timmermans “greenwashes” him with enthusiasm: “Gasunie wants to become the leading company in green hydrogen, I can understand his choice.”
Diederick Samsom’s career path is an unlikely mix 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 Labour Party. Logically, in Brussels, where he was the architect of the Green Deal, the laws to reform the EU’s energy system with a view to climate virtue, he campaigned against nuclear power with all the impartiality of a Greenpeace activist. So here he is, selling gas and the global warming that goes with it. Climate, yes, but not too much anyway.
