EU ambassadors’ club loses 3 senior members

If there were an award for the most powerful group in Brussels that nobody outside the EU bubble has ever heard of, it would probably go to something called Coreper, which is short for comité des représentants permanents – or the committee of permanent representatives.

Its fancy name belies its simple makeup: the 28 ambassadors sent by the EU’s member states to represent them in Brussels. But don’t let that simplicity fool you. In many respects, their powers rival national ministers.

Their weekly (at least) meetings set the course for EU summits and bargains on every piece of European legislation, from budgets to banking union to border security, and many EU perm reps participate in cabinet meetings back home. Indeed, they sit in for national ministers when they can’t attend regular Brussels gatherings.

But Coreper’s relative anonymity means its members are not widely known at home and it may be why something else has gone largely unnoticed: one of the largest departures of senior Coreper ambassadors in recent memory. By Brussels Blog’s count, this summer will see three of the committee’s six longest-serving members – including its vice-dean – either retire or move onto other postings.