Selmayr was chief of staff to former Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker before becoming secretary-general of the EU’s executive arm until 2019. Since then, he has been posted to Rome as the bloc’s ambassador to the Vatican.
Selmayr met with Kallas’ top team in recent weeks, amid the creation of an influential new role in her European External Action Service that would see him represent the diplomatic corps in talks with lawmakers and national governments.
However, Commission officials have moved to derail that appointment, instead proposing that Selmayr be offered a role as the EU’s special envoy for religious freedom — a far less sensitive and influential post that would nonetheless facilitate his return to Brussels.
A German conservative with deep institutional ties, Selmayr garnered a reputation as the “Monster of the Berlaymont” during his time in the Commission’s Brussels headquarters.
His 2018 promotion to oversee the Commission drew condemnation from the European Parliament, which said the process failed “to give other possible candidates within the European public administration the possibility to apply.”