Michael McGrath can use new role to make life more difficult for aspiring dictators 

McGrath will come under pressure to denounce authoritarian leaders, but that’s not the best way to get things done at the European Commission, writes Garvan Walshe

Michael McGrath has been named as EU Commissioner for Democracy, Justice and the Rule of Law. It’s a higher-profile job than it might first seem.

Commission President Ursula Von Der Leyen doesn’t seem too focused on her commissioners’ past careers. Frances Fitzgerald, a former social worker, was made commissioner for financial services. 

Now Michael McGrath, a former accountant, gets the grand portfolio of Democracy, Justice and the Rule of Law, which covers media freedom. Darker humour was in evidence too: the Austrians, surrounded by other EU members and Switzerland, have been put in charge of migration.