Vale de Almeida, who will replace former Irish PM John Bruton as the EU's face in Washington (EurActiv 20/01/09), is a long-time member of Commission President José Manuel Barroso's inner circle.
Having previously headed Barroso's private office in Brussels (2004-2009), the Portuguese was made director-general of the Commission's external relations department (DG RELEX) in June 2009.
This latest promotion is a considerable step up for the former journalist, who will be expected to help shore up deteriorating EU-US relations.
The transatlantic relationship has been shaky since US President Barack Obama earlier this month decided to skip the 24-25 May EU-US Madrid summit as a result of "excessive summitry" (EurActiv 02/02/10).
Commission officials blamed the delay in the appointment on institutional hold-ups caused by the Lisbon Treaty, and the fact that the EU executive was in caretaker mode.
Ashton vs. Barroso?
Journalists, mindful of the current uncertainty surrounding the EU's external relations, questioned whether the power to make this important appointment should not have been with EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs Catherine Ashton as opposed to Commission President Barroso.
However, EU officials eager to throw cold water on any signs of a split argued that Ashton's new EU diplomatic corps - the European External Action Service (EEAS) - is not in place yet. They also claimed that Almeida's appointment was recommended by both Ashton and Barroso.
Commenting on the uncertainty surrounding the relationship between DG RELEX and the new EEAS, a Commission official who did not wish to be named told EurActiv that the flurry of new appointments in the past few months had "in general" not been a good thing for the stability of the DG.
"There have been too many changes in the past year," the source said, adding that "with RELEX presumably about to disappear and all the uncertainties about the EEAS, I wouldn't blame him [Almeida] for jumping ship".
