Adviser to Ursula von der Leyen will receive a leadership position in the European Commission

One of the closest advisers to the head of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, will receive a permanent leadership position in the EC. We are talking about Jens Flosdorff, who was responsible for von der Leyen's public image for more than two decades. Reported by Rapporteur.

According to the publication's sources, Flosdorff 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. 66 people applied for the position, announced back in December 2025.

Rapporteur notes that Brussels has criticized the practice of transferring political assistants to permanent administrative positions in EU institutions. Thus, they receive highly paid and protected from dismissal jobs, which career officials apply for.

Flosdorff will receive category AD14 with a minimum salary of about 18 thousand euros per month, or 216 thousand euros per year. This amount is largely free of national taxes. In addition, the position provides various allowances. One official told Rapporteur that Flosdorff would manage an annual budget of about 50 million euros for information campaigns.

“Previously, cabinet officials did not move to services that were politically dependent on the European Commissioner for whom they worked. But now everything 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 media strategy, in which she avoids individual interviews with journalists.

The European Commission declined to comment on the appointment until it was officially approved. Flosdorff himself also did not respond to the publication’s request.

Previously, the European Commission announced the “Right to Remain” strategy, designed to keep Europeans in rural areas. However, no separate funding is provided for it. The strategy, expected in early 2027, will address shortages of jobs, housing and basic services that are forcing people out of rural areas. The publication notes that the initiative will not have its own funds.