European Union Trade Commissioner Phil Hogan said in a statement on Monday (29.06.2020) that he will not run for the post of Director-General of the World Trade Organization (WTO).
Hogan, an Irishman, said: «I have decided that I will not put my name forward for the post of Director-General of the World Trade Organization.«.
«I have informed the President of the Commission today. In consultation with and approval of President (Ursula) von der Leyen, I will return to my duties as Trade Commissioner with immediate effect.", He said.
On May 14, Roberto Azevedo, the current head of the WTO, announced that he would resign on August 31 for family reasons, a year earlier than expected, leaving the key trade role open.
Five candidates, namely former Mexican Deputy Director-General of the WTO Jesus Seade Kuri, former Nigerian Finance Minister Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, former Egyptian diplomat Hamid Mamdou, former Moldovan Foreign Minister Tudor Ulianovschi and South Korean Trade Minister Yoo Myung-hee, have been nominated by their countries to run for the post.
The process of appointing the next Director General began on June 8 and applications are being accepted from that date until July 8.
Our enormously important #EUTrade Agenda requires the full + careful involvement of the European Union & in particular, the Trade Commissioner.
Accordingly, I have decided to not put my name forward for the position of @wto Director-General. Full statement: https://t.co/WLCsmOyibF
— Phil Hogan (@PhilHoganEU) June 29, 2020
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