Selmayr, scourge of Leavers, is made EU’S top civil servant

ONE of the EU’S most vehement opponents of Brexit and a vocal supporter of European federalism has been made the bloc’s top civil servant.

Martin Selmayr, 47, a German lawyer known as the “Rasputin of Brussels”, has been promoted to secretary general of the European Commission.

Nominated by Jean-claude Juncker, his close ally and commission president, he was Mr Juncker’s chief of staff. Despite the Rasputin label, he is lauded as a master manipulator with an intellect honed through his legal career.

He is also the man said to have leaked two deeply embarrassing accounts of meetings between Theresa May and his boss that portrayed the Prime Minister as ill-prepared and incompetent, although he has strongly denied this.

The first, passed to a German newspaper in May, was virtually a verbatim account of a dinner at which it was claimed that Mr Juncker said he was “ten times more sceptical” about the likelihood of a good Brexit deal. The second came when a suspiciously wellinformed EU source said Mrs May had “begged for help” from Mr Juncker during a second dinner.

Both leaks were interpreted as attempts to undermine the UK’S credibility and hamper its chances of securing a favourable post-brexit trade deal.

In September, Mr Selmayr said the UK’S decision to leave was “stupid” and hinted it could still be reversed.

Mr Juncker’s term of office ends in 2019 but Mr Selmayr’s continued presence at the commission means he could continue to wield a significant level of influence in the Brexit negotiations.

Mr Selmayr replaces Alexander Italianer, 61, a Dutch civil servant.

The appointment was greeted with anger by some British MEPS, who said it proved the EU was out of touch.

Syed Kamall, leader of the Conservative party’s MEPS, said: “The Commission should be looking at ways to make Brussels more transparent and democratic, yet this appointment resembles nothing more than jobs for the boys.”