Uwe Corsepius

Uwe Corsepius (born 9 August 1960) is the current Secretary-General of the Council of the European Union.^[1]

Biography

Uwe Corsepius was born in Berlin, Germany. In 1984 he earned a degree in economics from the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg. He is regarded as a disciple of the renowned economist Horst Steinmann. He earned his doctorate at the Kiel Institute for the World Economy (Institut für Weltwirtschaft). In 1990 he became a civil servant in the Ministry of Economy and Labour. Since 1992, he has worked at the International Monetary Fund in Washington. Since 1994 he has been an official in the Federal Chancellery in Berlin, at first under Helmut Kohl, then under Chancellor Gerhard Schröder. Under Chancellor Angela Merkel, he became head of department 5 (European politics) and informally coordinated the German European policy. Already in late 2009 Corsepius was chosen by the Heads of state or Government (European Council) to become the new Secretary General of the Council of the European Union. He succeeded to Frenchman Pierre de Boissieu.^[2] Catalogued as a "gruff"^[3] person, he is seen with critical eyes in Brussels, because he has "little understanding of the interests and needs of others". Given the fact that Klaus Welle, another German, is the Secretary General of the European Parliament, in 2011, two German are in the administration of the two EU legislative chambers. Uwe Corsepius's successor as a Director of European Affairs in the Chancellery is Nikolaus Meyer-Landrut.

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