Charlie McCreevy will bring his experience of running an economy reliant on open markets and his accountancy skills to the big new task assigned him this week - breaking down barriers in the European Union free trade area.
The pro-business former Irish finance minister was handed one of the top jobs in Brussels when he was named to be the new Commissioner for the single market.
Although one of the EU's key aims has been to build a single free trade area, economists say one barely exists since tax and legal barriers remain, especially in services.
So McCreevy will try to remove hurdles to cross-border business in all economic sectors.
He will also gain the power to go after member states that raise barriers to shield national players against foreign competitors.
"It is a brilliant appointment to give a portfolio that sensitive to a country that has interest in open markets. It is a formula for success," said Paul Hofheinz, president of the economic think-thank The Lisbon Council.
"The secret of Ireland's success was its ability to trade outside the country. McCreevy will bring that into the job. We can look forward to some good work," he told Reuters.
During Ireland's "Celtic Tiger" boom in the 1990s, McCreevy oversaw a period of unprecedented economic growth led by foreign investment.
McCreevy, 54, will in November replace outgoing Internal Market Commissioner Frits Bolkestein, a feisty Dutchman who pushed through crucial legislation to free up financial markets.
McCreevy will have to finish Bolkestein's job by drafting regulation for clearing and settlement - the post-trading sector key to the securities industry - and tackle complex legislation for the insurance and re-insurance businesses.
One of his biggest challenges will be to defend a controversial Commission proposal for full liberalisation of the services sector in front of EU governments and the European Parliament. Services account for 65 percent of the EU's economy.
"The removal of barriers to the free movement of people, goods, services and capital within the Union is critical to the Union's future prosperity," McCreevy said on Wednesday.
The Irishman singled out services as an area of particular importance and said that eliminating barriers in this area would contribute significantly to creating a genuine single market.
Analysts said McCreevy's inside knowledge of the accounting profession would be crucial at a time when the EU is adopting new international accounting standards and pushing through tougher rules to police accountants.
McCreevy will inherit responsibility for the EU's global accounting project, which is currently embroiled in a dispute over the adoption of a standard for financial instruments. He will also be expected to give renewed impetus to the EU's plan to modernise company law and corporate governance, issues which have become more prominent after a string of corporate scandals involving companies like Enron, Ahold and Parmalat.
"It is pleasing...to see McCreevy, a member of this institute appointed to a senior economic portfolio like the Internal Market," the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Ireland said in a statement.
"It's good to have someone who understands the issues in charge," said an official from accounting federation FEE.
McCreevy's portfolio was stripped of responsibility for tax issues, as this was assigned to Latvia's Ingrida Udre - also a former accountant. Udre, a eurosceptic, will be in charge of steering the debate over simplifying corporate taxation rules but may resist attempts by Germany and France to introduce tax harmonisation.
Other analysts said the plainspeaking, horse-racing enthusiast McCreevy may run into conflicts with fellow commissioner Guenter Verheugen.
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