Anna Diamantopoulou in the OECD top-job race
By Costas Fragoyiannis
Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs for Economic Diplomacy and Openness
Since early November 2020, I have added something new to my busy schedule: reviewing the foreign press now includes a specific search for any OECD-related articles, especially in the Australian newspapers and sites. This is because Greece has nominated former EU Commissioner Anna Diamantopoulou for the organization’s top job, that of Secretary General with a five-year term. We have made it to the ‘final four’, the other candidates being Australia’s Mathias Cormann, Sweden’s Cecilia Malmström, and Switzerland’s Philipp Hildebrand. Just a few days ago, Ulrik Knudsen, a Dane, withdrew his candidacy, and so did candidates from the USA, Canada, Estonia, Poland, and the Czech Republic.
So, what is this OECD?
Characterized as “the most important organization you’ve ever heard of” by Daniel F. Runde, Senior Vice President of the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, the OECD was founded in 1961. It replaced the Marshall Plan’s Organization for European Economic Cooperation and its original 20 members endorsed the founding principle that “their economic systems are interrelated and that the prosperity of each of them depends on the prosperity of all.” All members are liberal democracies (albeit imperfect at times), while their economies represent 62.2% of the world’s total GDP. After Europe’s post-WWII reconstruction, the OECD enlargement began with Japan (1964), Australia (1971), New Zealand (1973) and Mexico (1994). Following the collapse of the Eastern Bloc, Poland and Hungary joined in 1996. Today, the OECD has 37 members, its latest addition being Colombia, while Costa Rica is expected to become a full member in 2021. The organization’s members are in Europe, North & South America, Oceania, and Asia; Bulgaria, Croatia, Romania, Argentina, Brazil, and Peru have requested membership, the prerequisite being continuously moving closer towards OECD standards.
Today, the OECD plays a critical role in shaping the global economic agenda and communicating economic policies and best practices, focusing on important economic sectors, such as taxes, digital taxation, export credit insurance, education, the environment, governance and public integrity, anti-corruption, the labor market, and conflict resolution. Its partners include other significant organizations such as G7 and G20, World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, providing a forum in which governments cooperate sharing experiences and seeking solutions to common problems.
In 2021, the OECD will need to reassess its core mission, especially in response to the global pandemic and the consequent economic crisis. The end of Jose Angel Gurria’s 15-year tenure (three 5-year terms) provides a golden opportunity for the OECD to strengthen its global outreach and address issues as far-ranging as globalization, income inequalities, digitalization, sustainable development, green growth, and labor force re-skilling.
The selection of the new Secretary General will decide to a large extent the orientation of the OECD during the critical period in front of us, whether towards a conservative or a more forward looking direction.
So, who is Anna Diamantopoulou?
Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis announced Anna Diamantopolou’s candidacy early last October stating that she has “undisputed multifaceted scientific and public service credentials, drawing from her global experience in such areas as Education, Employment, New Technologies and the Environment. She is an outstanding candidate for the position of Secretary General of the OECD”.
Indeed. After six of the originally ten candidates withdrew from the race, Diamantopoulou’s candidacy gained momentum. She appeared comfortable, energetic and charismatic during interviews on global media outlets and was given the opportunity to lay out her plans, if she wins the OECD race. Her key priorities are :
• digital transformation and digital taxation
• combating climate change and implementing green sustainable development
• labor force reform and re-skilling
Diamantopoulou is also well aware of the fact that the West’s relationship with China is one of the OECD’s (and the world’s) greatest challenges: “We have been saying that China should respect the rules made on fair trade […]. [The EU-China agreement on investment] is a step, but it is a preliminary one. I think that it is not only [about] the economic dimension. The United States, Europe, the liberal democracies have a better way of cooperating between them, it is not just trade or investments, it is about their values, it is about democracy.”
The post-pandemic role of the OECD is also on Anna’s agenda, as the organization is committed to pursuing widespread prosperity and she realizes that the tectonic changes the world is experiencing demand a Paradigm shift in order to deal with them. “This change will not happen overnight, but it turns out that the OECD has already laid the groundwork for such a transition”.
Diamantopoulou also benefits from Greece’s added value through the country’s geostrategic position bridging Europe with Africa and Asia. Though surely a Westerner, she also knows how to look to the East, always taking into consideration regional diversity and rising inequalities.
We are now getting close to the final stage of the race. Diamantopoulou has made it to the final four. Within the next few days, the OECD top-job race will eliminate two more candidates. I’m cautiously optimistic as I know this stage is a tough one. I am trying to be as objective as possible. After all, this is politics and that, by definition, means credentials alone do not cut it. But, the honest truth is Diamantopoulou has it all: her candidate’s ‘package’ is a good one. She is a fighter, albeit a calm and collected one. Her global experience is invaluable. She has proven that she can focus on getting the job done. She is both a pragmatist and an idealist. If she wins, it will be a great, possibly unforeseen, victory, benefitting the whole world. And most of all, it will be a great victory for Greece.
February 17, 2021