France and England given key jobs in European Commission

ENGLAND and France have come up trumps in the new 28-strong European Commission, with England overseeing financial services under the business eye of Jonathan Hill and France running the EU economic policy.  An upturn that has pleased the Prime Minister David Cameron.

On the appointment of Lord Hill, Cameron said during a trip to Edinburgh, “I think that is a great piece of news because 40 per cent of Europe’s financial services industry is in the United Kingdom, a lot of it here in Scotland. And I think it would be great for the United Kingdom to have someone right at the heart of the European Commission, the European Union, making sure that financial services industries… can go from strength to strength.”

France also got an influential post, with ex socialist Finance Minister Pierre Moscovici, looking after EU economic policies.

The commission which includes five former prime ministers, four deputy prime ministers and seven returning commissioners is seen as the most powerful EU institution. It drafts EU law, negotiates complicated international trading deals and safeguards EU treaties.