European Commission appoints new Head of Representation in the Netherlands - Main contents

The European Commission has appointed Mr Didier Herbert as the new Head of the Commission's Representation in The Hague (The Netherlands). He will take up office on 1 February 2019.

Mr Herbert, a Belgian national, is currently Director and Acting Chair (since October 2018) of the Regulatory Scrutiny Board, an independent body of the Commission, which provides a central quality control and support function for the Commission's impact assessment and evaluation work.

A highly experienced civil servant with over 30 years of working experience in the European Commission, Mr Herbert brings excellent knowledge of the EU institutions and the necessary management and communication skills to his new post.

Mr Herbert joined the European Commission in 1987 and has since then occupied several different positions. Before joining the Regulatory Scrutiny Board, he was Acting Director (2011-2016) in the Directorate-General (DG) for the Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs (DG GROW). He was responsible for policy coordination, the European Semester (Country assessments), Economic analysis, International affairs (Trade and external affairs) and the external representation, while at the same time also being a Member of the Impact Assessment Board.

Prior to these positions, he was Head of Unit for Industry, Climate Change, Environment, Transport and Energy Policy (2008-11), dealing with files, such as energy taxation and negotiations on emission trading and sustainable growth. He was also Head of Unit for Competitiveness, Single Market and Standardisation Policy (1998-2008) and member of the Cabinet of then Vice-President Martin Bangemann in charge of Telecommunications, Internal Market and Industry (1993-99). Prior to this, he also worked as assistant to the Director-General of External Relations (1989-1993) and served as intern in DG Competition.

His academic background includes an Executive Leadership Program at the Harvard Business School (2015); a Master of European Studies in Economics and Law at the Europa-Institut Saarbrücken (1984-1985); an International Law Degree at the City of London Polytechnics (1983) and a Law Degree at the University of Leuven.

Background

The Commission has Representations in all EU Member States as well as Regional Offices in Barcelona, Belfast, Bonn, Cardiff, Edinburgh, Marseille, Milan, Munich and Wroclaw. The Representations are the Commission's eyes, ears and voice on the ground in all EU Member States. They interact with national authorities and stakeholders and inform the media and the public about EU policies. The Representations report to the Commission's headquarters on significant developments in the Member States. Since the beginning of the Juncker Commission, Heads of Representations are appointed by the President and are his political representatives in the Member State to which they are posted.

For More Information

https://ec.europa.eu/netherlands

IP/18/6848