Jeppe Tranholm-Mikkelsen

Tranholm-Mikkelsen as Secretary General of the General Secretariat exercise a certain “pre-legislative function” since he is able to offer opinions on policymaking. However, in the considered timeframe this advice does not primarily concern policy objectives but rather focuses on how to achieve a majority among Member States. Therefore, the tendency has been in the last years for Tranholm-Mikkelsen to not pursue a legalistic approach but rather to focus on voting-efficiency internal dynamics, even if the said dynamics would hinder fundamental rights, rule of law or even internal legal coherence. (See European Council Report, The General Secretariat of the Council).

Tranholm-Mikkelsen's position at the intersection of the two Councils, the desire for enhanced inter-institutional coordination, and his closeness to the Presidencies the Secretariat General has been described to be at “the center of gravity of European power” (See European Council Report, The General Secretariat of the Council).

In context of the 2017 Malta Declaration, Tranholm Mikkelsen, as secretary-general of the General Secretariat offered directions and huge support to find consensus without ever providing with an input over the potentially dramatic consequences of the proposal, as well as the legal liability that could arise from it. Before the meeting a significant amount of work had been done on the text from a purely political perspective, in such an efficient way that, for the first time in the decade, a Council meeting on migration ended before the estimated time. (See European Council Report, The Genereal Secretariat).

The Malta Declaration finalized the adoption of this strategy and subsequently led to an increase of “implementation of the North Africa window of the EUTF. (See, European Council Report, 2017 – The Libyan coastguards).