Prague, Jan 9 (CTK) – Eduard Hulicius (Christian Democrats, KDU-CSL), 35, from the team of Czech EU Commissioner Vera Jourova, has been listed among the 12 most influential EU staffers in the Politico prestigious Brussels daily, Lidove noviny (LN) writes Saturday.
Politico calls Hulicius “the dark horse” mainly thanks to his ability to interconnect various contacts across European institutions.
Though Hulicius is the 186th ranked staffer in Brussels in terms of important meetings, he is the most important staffer when it comes to informal meetings, LN writes, citing the article in Politico, based on a mathematical analysis of public data and the assessment of other key players in the EU.
The author, Alex Harrowell, assessed the importance of officially registered meetings, behind-the scenes influence and the ability to establish contacts with people outside the European Commission (EC), LN writes.
Hulicius scores points mainly by his long experience. He has worked in Brussels since 2003; first in the team of the European People´s Party (EPP) and then as an assistant to MEP Zuzana Roithova (KDU-CSL). Jourova selected him from this post for her team in 2014, LN writes.
However, it says, Hulicius was not so successful in domestic politics. He was unsuccessfully running in elections three times: first to the Prague City Hall for the European Democrats (ED) in 2006, three years later to the European Parliament (EP) for the European Democratic Party (EDS) and last time he failed as a KDU-CSL candidate for the EP in 2014.
Hulicius said the article in Politico had caught him by surprise and that even its author admitted this was rather an attempt at making some standings.
Nevertheless, the listing of exactly Hulicius among the most influential Brussels staffers might be connected with the broad agenda of Jourova, commissioner in charge of justice, consumers and gender equality, whose portfolio is monitored by four EP committees, which also means a quite high number of meetings and contacts, LN says.
Apart from contacts with the EP, Hulicius deals with digital market in Brussels and he has therefore met representatives of publishing houses and mobile operators, for instance, in the past months.
LN writes that Hulicius is not the only official from the new EU member states to enter the top 12 EU staffers. The list also includes two Hungarians and Estonian Nele Eichhorn, member of Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmstroem’ private office, who is considered the most influential person in the bureaucratic circles in Brussels, according to the analysis.
She is followed by another two women, Belgians Inge Bernaerts, from the cabinet of Employment Commissioner Marianne Thyssen, and Sarah Nelen, member of the cabinet of EC First Vice President Frans Timmermans.
On the other hand, none of the top 12 staffers comes from the EU southern countries, and, which might be even more remarkable, there is only one German, LN writes.
