Cathy has a chief spokesperson. Finally !

It is ultimately Michael Mann who will be the voice of Cathy Ashton, the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs. He is due to take up his duties in the coming days.

A former journalist since 1993 in Brussels (Agra Europe, European Voice, Bloomberg, Reuters, Financial Times in London and Brussels), he joined the European Commission first as a horizontal spokesperson under the Prodi commission and then as spokesperson of the Commissioner for Agriculture (Fischer-Boel) in the Barroso I Commission. He is currently the spokesperson for the Commissioner for Administrative Affairs, Maroš Šef?ovi?.

Recognizable from afar by his height, courteous, endowed with a solid sense of humor, and known for working his files well, speaking perfect French, he will need all his phlegm to cross the current "Bermuda triangle" in which Cathy Ashton is.

Last but not least, he is British (specify: “half-Scottish and half-English). And his heart will be shared during the next Six Nations Rugby tournament which opens this Friday.