Markus Pieper has decided not to take up his role as the EU's small and medium-sized enterprises envoy, in a surprise U-turn following strong criticism over his appointment.
The last-minute decision comes after MEPs called on the European Commission to rescind Pieper's appointment and after four EU commissioners (Josep Borrell, Thierry Breton, Paolo Gentiloni and Nicolas Schmit) criticised the controversial move.
The German ...
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Elena joined EUobserver in 2019. She is from Spain and has studied journalism and new media in Spanish and Belgian universities. Previously she worked on European affairs at VoteWatch Europe and the Spanish news agency EFE.