It was only a matter of time before he left. Now the time has come. Diederik Samsom is leaving the Commission. As head of Frans Timmermans‘ cabinet, the Dutchman played a significant role in earning Timmermans the questionable nickname „climate Taliban“ in Brussels. Samsom was an ideologue and driver in the background. He sharpened the Green Deal proposals. He was not a classic Commission official. Before he came to Brussels, he was a Greenpeace activist and also once a top politician, namely head of the socialist Partij van de Arbeid in the Netherlands.