— Born on 21 May 1932 in Berlin (D), died on 29 September 2016 in Brussels (B)

— Nationality: Belgian

— Doctor of Law, Graduate in Political and Diplomatic Sciences

— Started his diplomatic career in 1956

— Posted to Paris (1958–61) and Cairo (1962–65)

— Director of the Press Office and Spokesman for the Belgian Foreign Ministry (1966– 68)

— Embassy Counsellor in Madrid (1969–72)

— Minister-Counsellor in Bonn (1972–76)

— Co-drafter of the Tindemans Report on European Union (1975)

— Director of the European Organisations Department in the Belgian Foreign Ministry, responsible for the coordination of European matters within the Belgian administration (1976–80)

— Head of the Private Office of Charles-Ferdinand Nothomb, Belgian Foreign Minister (1980–81)

— Belgian Ambassador to Madrid (1981–85)

— General Director of Political Affairs at the Foreign Ministry (1985–87)

— Belgian Permanent Representative to the European Union (1987–97)

— Personal Representative of the Foreign Minister in the negotiations on the Treaties of Maastricht and Amsterdam

— Representative of the Order of Malta to the European Commission (1999– )

— Special Adviser to Commissioner Michel Barnier (1999–2004)

— Visiting Professor at the Université catholique de Louvain (1990–99) and at the College of Europe in Natolin (1998–2005)

— Director of the European Studies programme at Egmont — The Royal Institute for International Relations (2009)