Mogens Peter Carl, who was the European Commission’s director-general for trade and then the director-general for environment, has joined the Brussels office of Kreab Gavin Anderson, a communications agency, as a senior adviser. Before retiring from the Commission, he took a leave of absence to advise the French government on environment and climate change policy.

France’s 29 centre-right MEPs, who comprise the national delegation to the European People’s Party group, have elected Jean-Pierre Audy as their leader to succeed Michel Barnier, who has become the European commissioner for the internal market. Audy, a 57-year-old accountant, has been a member of the European Parliament since 2005 and is a vice-chairman of the Parliament’s budgetary control committee. Barnier will be replaced as an MEP by Constance Legrip, who is currently working as an adviser to Nicolas Sarkozy, France’s president.

Jeff Chertack has taken over as head of the Brussels office of Ogilvy Public Relations Worldwide from Natalie Sarkic-Todd, who will continue working with the firm in a freelance capacity. Chertack has been with Ogilvy since 2003.

Virginia Janssens has been appointed EU affairs manager at EUROPEN, the European Organization for Packaging and the Environment, to succeed Fiona Durie. She joins from Public Advice Europe in Brussels.

Michael Persson has been elected vice-president of eBIO, the European Bioethanol Industry Association, to fill the vacancy created by the election of Lutz Guderjahn to the presidency of eBIO. Persson is vice-president for finance and corporate affairs at Inbicon A/S, a company involved in the production of advanced biofuels.

Alicia de la Torre has joined the Lisbon Council, a think-tank in Brussels, as senior project manager with responsibility for co-ordinating the Government of the Future Centre. She previously worked at the Centre for Creative Leadership. Anthony D. Williams, the co-author of ‘Wikinomics: How Mass Collaboration Changes Everything’, joins the organisation as a senior fellow for innovation.