Adviser von der Leyen will receive a permanent leadership post at the European Commission

One of the closest advisers to the head of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, who was responsible for her public image for more than two decades, will receive a permanent leadership position in the EC with a salary of at least 18 thousand euros per month, Rapporteur reports.

"The man responsible for creating Ursula von der Leyen's carefully calibrated public image for more than two decades will be rewarded with a permanent position in the EU," the newspaper writes.

We are talking about Jens Flosdorff, one of von der Leyen's closest advisers.

According to Rapporteur sources, he will be appointed director of communications with citizens in the relevant Directorate General of the European Commission.

The College of European Commissioners, chaired by von der Leyen herself, is due to approve the appointment on Wednesday. At the same time, 66 people applied for the position, the announcement of which was published in December 2025.

Rapporteur notes that in Brussels there is a negative attitude towards the practice of transferring political assistants to permanent administrative positions in EU institutions, since in this way they receive highly paid and exclusively protected jobs, which career officials apply for.

Flosdorff will receive the AD14 category with a minimum salary of about 18 thousand euros per month, or 216 thousand euros per year, which, according to the publication, is largely free of national taxes. In addition, the position provides various allowances.

One official told Rapporteur that Flosdorff would, among other things, manage an annual budget of about 50 million euros for information campaigns.

“Previously, officials from the cabinet did not move to services that were politically dependent on the European Commissioner for whom they worked. But now anything is possible,” an EU official told the publication.

Flosdorff has worked with von der Leyen since the early 2000s, when she held a position in the Lower Saxony government. He accompanied her to various ministerial posts in the governments of Angela Merkel, and in 2019 he followed her to Brussels.

According to Rapporteur, Flosdorff was one of the main architects of von der Leyen's carefully controlled communications strategy with the media, in which she, in particular, avoids individual interviews with journalists.

The European Commission declined to comment on the appointment until it was officially approved.