Advisers urge closer cooperation in European Commission reform
Nine recommendations will inform a wider administrative review, while major structural decisions are expected to await EU budget negotiations.
A panel led by former Commission Secretary-General Catherine Day presented nine reform recommendations to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on 26 October 2026. The proposals advance an administrative review, but no decisions on restructuring have been made.
The advisers want directorates-general to collaborate more closely, with some portfolios covering several departments. They also propose expanding the Secretariat-General’s strategic responsibilities and using artificial intelligence, with a human-centred approach, to make administrative processes simpler.
Piotr Serafin, the Budget and Public Administration Commissioner, is overseeing the broader review. He is due to deliver his final recommendations to von der Leyen before 2026 ends. Serafin said the panel’s assessment and employees’ feedback gave him a mandate for extensive changes.
Potential mergers and changes to departmental responsibilities are linked to plans for reorganising the administration of EU funding. Uncertainty surrounds departments handling regional development, agriculture, employment, fisheries and research. Cohesion funding, overseen by the Directorate-General for Regional and Urban Policy, represents almost a third of EU spending.
In July, Serafin indicated that major structural decisions were unlikely before the conclusion of negotiations over the next Multiannual Financial Framework. That long-term budget will determine the organisation of EU expenditure from 2028 to 2034.
Thousands of Commission employees contributed to the review’s opening stage, which covered 15 internal workstreams. Officials also drew up preliminary proposals in July as a basis for discussion, not as settled decisions.
