Martin Selmayr
| Martin Selmayr | |
|---|---|
 Martin Selmayr (2014) | |
| Born |
5 December 1970 Bonn |
| Residence | Brussels |
| Nationality | German |
| Occupation | European civil servant |
| Political party | Christian Democratic Union of Germany |
Martin Selmayr (born 5 December 1970 in Bonn) is a German lawyer and a European civil servant, who serves as head of cabinet to the President of the European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker. Selmayr is a close confidant of Juncker and was Juncker's campaign director and head of the transition team before Juncker took office as President. Selmayr has been widely described as the most influential civil servant of the European Commission.[1][2]
Background
Selmayr studied law at the University of Passau, at the University of Geneva and at King’s College London; he completed his second state examination in law in 2000 and earned his PhD in law in 2001.
Selmayr is a member of the Christian Democratic Union of Germany.
Career
Early career
Selmayr worked for the European Central Bank from 1998 to 2000. In 2000 he joined the media conglomerate Bertelsmann as a legal adviser, and he became Vice President for Legal Affairs and Government Relations and head of the Brussels office in 2003.
European Commission
In 2004 he joined the European Commission and has served in a variety of roles, including as Commission Spokesperson for Information Society and Media, Head of Cabinet to the Commissioner for Justice, Fundamental Rights and Citizenship Viviane Reding, and Principal Adviser in the European Commission's Directorate-General for Economic and Financial Affairs.
In 2014, Selmayr became the Campaign Director for Jean-Claude Juncker during his candidacy for President of the European Commission and he subsequently became Head of the Juncker Transition Team and Head of Cabinet to the President of the European Commission when Juncker took office.[3] Media reports suggest Selmayr is a very influential figure in EU politics, with Politico describing him as "the most powerful EU chief of staff ever" in November 2016 and noting that even Juncker jokingly refers to him by the nickname "the monster."[4] Tomáš Prouza, the Czech state secretary for European affairs said “when I need a decision to be taken on any file, I talk to Martin".
Teaching
He has taught law as a guest lecturer at several universities, and has taught as a part-time Professor for European Economic and Finance Law at Saarland University since 2010.[5]
Personal life
Selmayr was born to a prominent bourgeois Catholic family from Bavaria. He is a son of the lawyer Gerhard Selmayr, who was private secretary to the German Chancellery Chief of Staff and later Chancellor of the Bundeswehr University Munich and the University of Karlsruhe. He is a grandson of Brigadier General Josef Selmayr, the first Director of the West German Military Counterintelligence Service from 1955. He has lived in Brussels since 2003.
Books
- The Law of The European Central Bank, Oxford: Hart Publishing (2001), with Chiara Zilioli
- Das Recht der Wirtschafts- und Währungsunion: Die Vergemeinschaftung der Währung, Baden-Baden (2002).
- La Banca centrale europea, Milan (2007), with Chiara Zilioli
References
- ↑ Europas mächtigster Beamter
- ↑ Der Mann, der Prof. Dr. Europa ist
- ↑ Hendrik Kafsack: "Der starke Mann hinter Juncker," Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, 10 September 2014
- ↑ HERSZENHORN, DAVID M. (17 Nov 2016). "‘Monster’ at the Berlaymont". Politico. Retrieved 3 May 2017.
- ↑ Martin Selmayr, European Commission