Big Phil’s bid for WTO top job is scuppered on both sides of the Atlantic
A RARE diplomatic union of America and Germany is believed to have foiled the ambitions of Phil Hogan to follow in the footsteps of Peter Sutherland and become the director general of the World Trade Organisation (WTO).
After a brief period as early favourite, Mr Hogan, the former Fine Gael minister and current EU Commissioner for Trade, retired from the field with his application being described as a ‘probe’ rather than a full application.
Diplomatic sources have, however, claimed that Mr Hogan’s brusque style had attracted the hostility of America.
As the EU Commissioner for Trade, he had been engaged in tense negotiations between the EU and America. One senior Government source said: ‘It was a bit of a case of two bulls in the field and Trump took a serious dislike to the cut of Phil’s jib.’
Unfortunately for Mr Hogan, his status as the EU’s chief trade negotiator meant that the powerful German EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen also became increasingly uneasy about her commissioner’s interest in the post.
One European source said: ‘It became increasingly clear that
Ursula was not at all pleased by the semi-detached position of her main knight in the anti-Trump battle.’
They added: ‘Phil can issue his way through many a tight spot, but the unhappiness of both America and Europe was a step too far – even for Phil.’
He does not, they added, ‘have supernatural powers’.
The decision of Mr Hogan to see out his term as trade commissioner has scuppered a lot of other plans and created some new ones.
One senior Fine Gael source said: ‘There were nearly black flags floating above Fine Gael HQ. Quite a few lost souls were seeing the WTO triumph of Phil as their best step off the Leinster House merrygo-round.
‘Never mind all the attempts to downplay this. There were bells and whistles being prepared. This would have been bigger than the Security Council.’ Ireland recently won a much-prized seat on the prestigious UN body.
They added: ‘More importantly still, Phil going now would have opened up Leo to appropriately reward Eoghan “Murph” Murphy.’
They said that Murphy had ‘essentially withdrawn from Leinster
House. Phil and the WTO had provided him with an escape route and now it’s as illusory as a bullfighter’s cape. Phil was Murph’s bailout but that is now gone south.’
It would, they added, ‘also have been a very useful solution for ‘the problem with Richard [Bruton] now that Simon [Harris] has taken Richard’s [education] job in the dreamy spires’.
The source added: ‘As a job though it might fall perfectly for Leo if he has enough of the delights of Irish governance.’
‘It was a step too far – even for Phil’
‘Would have been bigger than Security Council’