Pascal Lamy (born 8 April 1947) is a French

political consultant Political consulting is a form of consulting that consists primarily of advising and assisting political campaigns. Although the most important role of political consultants is arguably the development and production of mass media (largely televi ...

and businessman. He was the

Director-General of the World Trade Organization The director-general of the World Trade Organization is the officer of the World Trade Organization (WTO) responsible for supervising and directing the organization's administrative operations. Since the World Trade Organization's decisions are ...

(WTO) from 1 September 2005 to 1 September 2013 for 8 years. In April 2009, WTO members reappointed Lamy for a second 4-year term, beginning on 1 September 2009. He was then succeeded by Roberto Azevêdo. Pascal Lamy was also

European Commissioner for Trade The European Commissioner for Trade (sometimes referred to as the ''EU Trade Commissioner'') is the member of the European Commission responsible for the Common Commercial Policy (EU), European Union's common commercial policy. Responsibilities ...

for 5 years, from 13 September 1999 to 22 November 2004 and is an advisor for the transatlantic think-tank European Horizons, as well as currently serving as the Honorary President of the Paris-based

think tank A think tank, or public policy institute, is a research institute that performs research and advocacy concerning topics such as social policy, political strategy, economics, military, technology, and culture. Most think tanks are non-governme ...

, Notre Europe.

Early life

Born in

Levallois-Perret Levallois-Perret () is a Communes of France, commune in the Hauts-de-Seine Departments of France, department and Île-de-France Regions of France, region of north-central France. It lies on the right bank of the Seine, some from the Kilometre z ...

Hauts-de-Seine Hauts-de-Seine (; ) is a department in the Île-de-France region of France. It covers Paris's western inner suburbs. It is bordered by Paris, Seine-Saint-Denis and Val-de-Marne to the east, Val-d'Oise to the north, Yvelines to the west and ...

, a suburb of Paris, Lamy studied at

Sciences Po Paris Sciences Po () or Sciences Po Paris, also known as the Paris Institute of Political Studies (), is a public research university located in Paris, France, that holds the status of ''grande école'' and the legal status of . The university's unde ...

, from HEC and ÉNA, graduating second in his year of those specialising in economics. He then joined the civil service, and in this role he ended up serving as an adviser to

Jacques Delors Jacques Lucien Jean Delors (; 20 July 192527 December 2023) was a French politician who served as the eighth president of the European Commission from 1985 to 1995. Delors played a key role in the creation of the single market, the euro and th ...

as Economics and Finance Minister and Pierre Mauroy as

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

. Lamy has been a member of the

French Socialist Party The Socialist Party ( , PS) is a Centre-left politics, centre-left to Left-wing politics, left-wing List of political parties in France, political party in France. It holds Social democracy, social democratic and Pro-Europeanism, pro-European v ...

since 1969.

Career

Member of the European Commission

In 1979 Pascal Lamy was appointed to the post of Secretary General of the "Mayoux Committee". During 1979-1981 he worked as Deputy Secretary General, then Secretary General of the Interministerial Committee for the Remodelling of Industrial Structures (CIASI) in the Treasury Department. In 1981 Pascal Lamy was technical Adviser, then deputy director (June 1982), Office of the Ministers for Economic and Financial Affairs (Mr Jacques Delors). Lamy became Deputy Secretary General, then Secretary General of the Interministerial Committee for the Remodelling of Industrial Structures (CIASI) in the Treasury Department. When Delors became

President of the European Commission The president of the European Commission, also known as president of the College of Commissioners is the Head of government, head of the European Commission, the Executive (government), executive branch of the European Union (EU). The president ...

in 1984, he took Lamy with him to serve as

chef de cabinet In some Francophone countries and international organisations, a ( French; literally 'head of office') is a senior official working for a high-ranking political or administrative figure such as a government minister. They are typically responsib ...

, which he did until the end of Delors' term in 1994. During his time there, Lamy became known as the ''Beast of the

Berlaymont The Berlaymont building () is an office building in Brussels, Belgium, which houses the headquarters of the European Commission, the executive branch of the European Union (EU). The structure is located on the Robert Schuman Roundabout at 200, ...

'', the ''

Gendarme A gendarmerie () is a paramilitary or military force with law enforcement duties among the civilian population. The term ''gendarme'' () is derived from the medieval French expression ', which translates to "men-at-arms" (). In France and som ...

'' and ''

Exocet The Exocet () is a French-built anti-ship missile whose various versions can be launched from Warship, surface vessels, Submarine, submarines, Helicopter, helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft. Etymology The missile's name was given by M. Guil ...

'' due to his habit of ordering

civil servants The civil service is a collective term for a sector of government composed mainly of career civil service personnel hired rather than elected, whose institutional tenure typically survives transitions of political leadership. A civil service offic ...

, even Directors-General (heads of department) "precisely what to do – or else." He was seen as ruling Delors' office with a "rod of iron", with no-one able to bypass or manipulate him and those who tried being "banished to one of the less pleasant European postings". Lamy briefly moved into business at

Crédit Lyonnais The Crédit Lyonnais (, "Lyon Credit ompany) was a major French bank, created in 1863 and absorbed by former rival Crédit Agricole in 2003. Its head office was initially in Lyon but moved to Paris in 1882. In the early years of the 20th cen ...

. Promoted to second in command, he was involved in the

restructuring Restructuring or Reframing is the corporate management term for the act of reorganizing the legal, ownership, operational, or other structures of a company for the purpose of making it more profitable, or better organized for its present needs. ...

and

privatisation Privatization (rendered privatisation in British English) can mean several different things, most commonly referring to moving something from the public sector into the private sector. It is also sometimes used as a synonym for deregulation w ...

of the bank. Returning to the European Commission in 1999, Lamy was appointed

by Commission President

Romano Prodi Romano Prodi (; born 9 August 1939) is an Italian politician who served as President of the European Commission from 1999 to 2004 and twice as Prime Minister of Italy, from 1996 to 1998, and again from 2006 to 2008. Prodi is considered the fo ...

. Lamy served to the expiry of the commission's term in 2004. His ability to manage the powerful civil servants in his department was noted. During his time in office, he pushed for a new Doha round of world trade talks and advocated reform within the WTO.

Director-General of the WTO, 2005–2013

On 13 May 2005, Lamy was chosen as the next director-general of the World Trade Organization, and took office on 1 September 2005 for a four-year term. He had been nominated by the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

and won over candidates including Carlos Pérez del Castillo of

Uruguay Uruguay, officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay, is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast, while bordering the Río de la Plata to the south and the A ...

and Jaya Krishna Cuttaree of

Mauritius Mauritius, officially the Republic of Mauritius, is an island country in the Indian Ocean, about off the southeastern coast of East Africa, east of Madagascar. It includes the main island (also called Mauritius), as well as Rodrigues, Ag ...

. On 30 April 2009, Lamy was re-elected unanimously by the WTO General Council for a second term of four years, beginning 1 September 2009. He also served as the chairman of the organization's Trade Negotiations Committee. He was the WTO's fifth director-general. Also in 2009, Lamy served on the High Level Commission on the Modernization of World Bank Group Governance, which – under the leadership of

Ernesto Zedillo Ernesto Zedillo Ponce de León (; born 27 December 1951) is a Mexican economist and politician. He was the 61st president of Mexico from 1994 to 2000, as the last of the uninterrupted 71-year line of Mexican presidents from the Institutional Re ...

– conducted an external review of the

World Bank Group The World Bank Group (WBG) is a family of five international organizations that make leveraged loans to developing countries. It is the largest and best-known development bank in the world and an observer at the United Nations Development Group ...

's governance.

Later career

Since 2019, Lamy has been serving as President of the Paris Peace Forum. Pascal Lamy is a member of the advisory board of the Prague European Summit. In 2019, he joined Brunswick Group as its president for European operations.

Other activities

Corporate boards

Danone Danone S.A. () is a French multinational corporation, multinational food-products corporation based in Paris. It was founded in 1919 in Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain. It is listed on Euronext Paris, where it is a component of the CAC 40 stock mark ...

, Member of the Mission Committee (since 2020) * Bosch, Member of the International Advisory Committee (since 2015)

Non-profit organizations

* Africa Europe Foundation (AEF), Member of the High-Level Group of Personalities on Africa-Europe Relations (since 2020) *

Berggruen Institute The Berggruen Institute is a Los Angeles-based think tank founded by Nicolas Berggruen. History Berggruen Institute was formed in 2010 by founder Nicolas Berggruen and co-founder Nathan Gardels as a global network of "thinkers" dedicated to ...

, Member of the Council for the Future of Europe * Broader European Leadership Agenda (BELA), Member of the Advisory Board *

Center for Economic and Policy Research The Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR) is an American think tank that specializes in economic policy. Based in Washington, D.C. CEPR was co-founded by economists Dean Baker and Mark Weisbrot in 1999. Considered a left-leaning orga ...

(CEPR), Distinguished Fellow (since 2019) * Centre for European Reform (CER), Member of the Advisory Board *

European Climate Foundation The European Climate Foundation (ECF) is an independent philanthropic initiative working to help tackle the climate crisis by fostering the development of a net zero emissions society at the national, European and global level. Its aim is to pro ...

, Member of the Supervisory Board *

Europaeum The Europaeum is a network of leading universities in Europe, founded in 1992 by three universities: University of Bologna, Leiden University, and University of Oxford. It currently has 17 member universities operating in 15 countries. The Euro ...

, Member of the Board of Trustees *

European Council on Foreign Relations The European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR) is a pan-European think tank with offices in seven European capitals. Launched in October 2007, it conducts research on European foreign and security policy and provides a meeting space for decis ...

(ECFR), Member * European Horizons, Advisor * Fondation européenne d'études progressistes (FEPS), vice-president of the Bureau * French Institute for International and Strategic Affairs (IRIS]), Honorary President of the Board of Directors *

Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies The Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies (, abbreviated IHEID), commonly referred to as Geneva Graduate Institute, is a graduate-level research university in Geneva, Switzerland dedicated to international relations, dev ...

of Geneva, distinguished senior fellow. * Jacques Delors Centre at Hertie School, Member of the Advisory Board *

Mo Ibrahim Foundation The Mo Ibrahim Foundation is an African non-grant foundation founded in 2006 by businessman Mo Ibrahim. Headquartered in London and Dakar, Senegal, it works to strengthen governance and leadership in Africa through its key initiatives: * Ibra ...

, Member of the Board *

Les Musiciens du Louvre Les Musiciens du Louvre (literally ''The Musicians of the Louvre'') is a French Historically informed performance, period instrument ensemble, formed in 1982. Originally based in Paris, since 1996 it has been based in the Couvent des Minimes de Gre ...

, President of the Board of Directors * Women Political Leaders Global Forum (WPL), Member of the Global Advisory Board *

Transparency International Transparency International e.V. (TI) is a German registered association founded in 1993 by former employees of the World Bank. Based in Berlin, its nonprofit and non-governmental purpose is to take action to combat global corruption with civil s ...

, Member of the Advisory Council *

UNAIDS The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV and AIDS (UNAIDS; , ONUSIDA) is the main advocate for accelerated, comprehensive and coordinated global action on the HIV/AIDS pandemic. The mission of UNAIDS is to lead, strengthen and support an ex ...

–'' Lancet'' Commission on Defeating AIDS, Member (2013-2015)

Personal life

Lamy is married and has three sons. His hobbies include running and cycling.

Select publications

*Lamy, Pascal
''The Geneva Consensus: Making Trade Work for All''
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2013. *Lamy, Pascal
''The Economic Summit and the European Community''
Bissell Paper No. 5. Toronto: University of Toronto, Centre for International Studies, 1988

Lectures

in the ttp://legal.un.org/avl/lectureseries.html Lecture Series of the United Nations Audiovisual Library of International Law

References

External links

* Th
private papers
of Pascal Lamy are deposited at th
Historical Archives of the European Union
in Florence

Notre Europe

"Pascal Lamy – Managing Global Expectations"
'' The Globalist'', 23 February 2006
Pascal Lamy: Free Trade and Interdependence Help Promote Freedom
– video report by ''

Democracy Now! ''Democracy Now!'' is an hour-long TV, radio, and Internet news program based in Manhattan and hosted by journalists Amy Goodman (who also acts as the show's executive producer), Juan González, and Nermeen Shaikh. The show, which airs live ...

'' , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Lamy, Pascal 1947 births École nationale d'administration alumni Lycée Carnot alumni HEC Paris alumni Sciences Po alumni Knights Commander of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany Grand Officers of the Legion of Honour Grand Officers of the Ordre national du Mérite Knights Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic Officers of the Order of Merit of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg Living people People from Levallois-Perret Socialist Party (France) politicians French economists French bankers French European commissioners Directors-general of the World Trade Organization Academic staff of Sciences Po