The appointment of Jim Hagemann Snabe as special envoy for industrial artificial intelligence, announced on 3 June, has sparked debate in Brussels. Critics point to his role as chair of the supervisory board of Siemens, a major German technology and mobility group. According to Brando Benifei, rapporteur on the AI Act, Siemens had lobbied to soften parts of the EU’s guiding AI regulation, which later required corrections via an omnibus measure; some aspects had also been criticized by Mario Draghi.
Hagemann Snabe, a Danish national who previously chaired global shipping giant Maersk, will advise President Ursula von der Leyen and Vice-President for Technological Sovereignty Henna Virkkunen on industrial AI issues. The Commission said his role aims to “maximize the transformative potential of AI across the EU.” As part of his mandate, he will prepare a forward-looking report on industrial AI grounded in concrete data.
The Commission specified that his advisory remit will cover the full industrial AI ecosystem, with emphasis on infrastructure such as data centers, high-performance computing (HPC), and semiconductor supply chains—key elements for AI deployment. He will also advise on core AI technologies, including large language models (LLMs), generative AI, cloud services, and advanced AI software, as well as on AI applications across industrial sectors. His work will inform strategic policy considerations to ensure alignment between technological innovation and the EU’s legal framework.
Spokesperson: “safeguard measures for possible conflicts of interest”
The choice of a leading industry executive as the Commission’s AI adviser has raised concerns in Brussels about potential conflicts of interest. At the daily briefing, spokesman Balazs Ujvari said the Commission has a duty to ensure there are no conflicts between an adviser’s external professional activities and their work for the Commission.
Ujvari added that assessments are carried out on a case-by-case basis as standard practice. Given that Hagemann Snabe sits on several corporate boards, he will suspend participation in some of them. The Commission said targeted, robust safeguards will be implemented to prevent any conflicts of interest related to the appointment.
Without providing granular details for reasons related to personal data protection, the spokesman stressed that these safeguards are rigorous. Hagemann Snabe will be supported by an internal Commission team in preparing the report and may collaborate with other AI experts within DG CONNECT, particularly the AI office.
Spokesperson: “Commission fully supports the AI Act”
Ujvari explained that Hagemann Snabe was appointed because he possesses specific expertise that is not readily available within the Commission: the College identifies external competencies it needs and follows established internal procedures to recruit external advisers. The final appointment is made by the College under public rules governing special advisors.
Digital spokesperson Thomas Regnier emphasized that the Commission fully supports the AI Act. Co-legislators reached agreement on the AI omnibus law, which remains in force. The special adviser’s role, he said, concerns industrial application and innovation rather than legislative or regulatory matters.
Hagemann Snabe will advise on how to best deploy AI for the benefit of European industry, a key issue as Europe seeks to catch up with the United States and China in AI development. AI will not be the only area in which the Danish executive influences Commission priorities; a personal detail noted in coverage is his connection to Greenland, having spent part of his childhood in Nuuk.
He was one of the “magnificent three” von der Leyen consulted during lockdowns
Documents obtained by Adnkronos and published on 27 November 2022 show that Hagemann Snabe was one of three senior business leaders frequently consulted by President von der Leyen during the COVID lockdowns, while she was shaping the Green Deal. The Green Deal later became a central EU policy in her first mandate, albeit with subsequent adjustments addressed over time.
Records show von der Leyen discussed the Green Deal and its practical implications in nine teleconferences between 2020 and 2022 with the same three senior executives: Carl-Henric Svanberg, long-time chair of AB Volvo (he left the role in 2024); Benoît Potier, long-time CEO and current chair of Air Liquide; and Jim Hagemann Snabe, chair of Siemens’s supervisory board. Hagemann Snabe’s résumé also includes roles at Maersk and Singapore’s Temasek.
For von der Leyen in 2020–22, about a dozen meetings with three industry leaders
All three executives were associated with the European Round Table of Industrialists (ERT), a group that brings together leaders of Europe’s large industrial firms. Italian representation within the ERT is limited, reflecting the smaller size of many Italian companies.
The meetings between von der Leyen and these three industry leaders numbered at least a dozen—nearly one-fifth of the more than 60 meetings the president held during her first mandate. In nine of those dozen meetings, documents explicitly listed the Green Deal, NextGenerationEU, or the ecological transition among the topics discussed. By comparison, BusinessEurope met von der Leyen only twice (2019 and 2020), the same number as Germany’s BDI.
After helping to shape the Green Deal alongside leaders from Sweden and France, Hagemann Snabe will now advise von der Leyen on promoting AI adoption in European industry. Few business figures have enjoyed comparable access to the president. (By Tommaso Gallavotti)