Defraigne Pierre

Pierre Defraigne has been Executive Director of the Madariaga – College of Europe Foundation since April 2008. An economist and European civil servant from 1970 to 2005, he retired as Deputy Director-General in DG Trade in March 2005 after having been Head of Cabinet for Pascal Lamy, European Commissioner for Trade (1999-2002). Previously, he was Director for North-South Relations, and Head of Cabinet for Etienne Davignon, Vice-President of the European Commission (1977-1983). He has set up the Brussels branch of the French Institute for International Relations (Eur-Ifri), which he managed from 2005 to 2008. Pierre Defraigne is a lecturer in economics at the College of Europe, Bruges and at the Institute for European Studies, UCL and FUSL. He is also a visiting professor at Zhejiang University, China.