Catherine Day (born 16 June 1954 in

Mount Merrion Mount Merrion () is a suburb of Dublin, Ireland. It is roughly 7 kilometres (5 mi) south of Dublin city centre and is situated on and around the hill of the same name. Location and access Mount Merrion is 3 kilometres (2 mi) southw ...

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

) is a former European civil servant from

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

. Appointed in November 2005 as

Secretary-General of the European Commission The secretary-general of the European Commission is the senior civil servant of the European Commission. The secretary-general, who is responsible to the president of the European Commission, is in charge of the various Directorates-General ...

, she served two terms with

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

Jose Manuel Barroso and continued with his successor, Mr

Jean-Claude Juncker Jean-Claude Juncker (; born 9 December 1954) is a Luxembourgish politician who was List of prime ministers of Luxembourg, prime minister of Luxembourg from 1995 to 2013 and president of the European Commission from 2014 to 2019. He also was List ...

until she retired in September 2015. She was the first woman to hold the post of Secretary General of the European Commission.

Education

Day has a B.A. in economics (1974) and an M.A. in international trade and economic integration (1975) from

University College Dublin University College Dublin (), commonly referred to as UCD, is a public research university in Dublin, Ireland, and a collegiate university, member institution of the National University of Ireland. With 38,417 students, it is Ireland's largest ...

Career

After graduation Day worked in

, first in the Investment Bank of Ireland and then in the Confederation of Irish Industry.

European roles

In 1979 Day joined the

European Commission The European Commission (EC) is the primary Executive (government), executive arm of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with a number of European Commissioner, members of the Commission (directorial system, informall ...

following an open competition. She started work in the Industry DG of the commission and then worked in cabinets of Mr Richard Burke (1982-1984), Mr

Peter Sutherland Peter Denis Sutherland (25 April 1946 – 7 January 2018) was an Irish businessman, barrister and Fine Gael politician who served as UN Special Representative for International Migration from 2006 to 2017. He was known for serving in various in ...

(1985-1989) and Sir Leon Brittan (1989-1996) whom she served as deputy chef de Cabinet. In the mid-1990s she worked on the enlargement of 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 ...

to the countries of central and eastern Europe. She chaired the Association Committees with candidate countries and was one of the architects of the pre-accession process. In 2000 she was appointed as deputy director general in the DG for External Relations, serving under Commissioner

Chris Patten Christopher Francis Patten, Baron Patten of Barnes (; born 12 May 1944), is a British politician who was the Chairman of the Conservative Party from 1990 to 1992, and the 28th and last Governor of Hong Kong from 1992 to 1997. He was made a lif ...

. She was responsible for policy in the Balkans and wider European including Russia and the NIS. In 2002 she was appointed Director General for Environment, serving under Commissioners Margot Wallström and Stavros Dimas. She was deeply involved in developing the commission's REACH legislation on chemicals and in developing its climate and renewable energy strategies. In November 2005 she was appointed secretary-general of the European Commission. During her term of office she developed the role of the secretariat-general in cross-commission policy co-ordination, its better regulation and impact assessment/policy evaluation approach and was a key negotiator of the 2014-2020 multi-annual financial framework for the EU budget. She also led the commission's work on the European Semester, co-ordinating EU and national economic and social policies. She was succeeded as secretary general by Mr Alexander Italianer in September 2015. Through 2018 Day served as special adviser to European Commission President

Governance roles

Day chaired the governing body of

University College Cork University College Cork – National University of Ireland, Cork (UCC) () is a constituent university of the National University of Ireland, and located in Cork (city), Cork. The university was founded in 1845 as one of three Queen's Universit ...

from 2015 until January 2019. Since September 2017 she has chaired the board of trustees of the

Chester Beatty Library The Chester Beatty Library, now known as the Chester Beatty, is a museum and library in Dublin. It was established in Ireland in 1953, to house the collections of mining magnate, Sir Alfred Chester Beatty. The present museum, on the grounds of ...

in Dublin which is a government appointment. She is on the board of European Movement Ireland and the

Institute of International and European Affairs The Institute of International and European Affairs (IIEA; ) is an Irish policy think tank focusing on European and international policy trends based in Dublin, Ireland. It is known for its seminars and speaking events which attract notable int ...

. She is a member of the

Royal Irish Academy The Royal Irish Academy (RIA; ), based in Dublin, is an academic body that promotes study in the natural sciences, arts, literature, and social sciences. It is Ireland's premier List of Irish learned societies, learned society and one of its le ...

. From 2017 to 2019, Day chaired an independent review group on the role of voluntary organisations in publicly funded health services in Ireland. In October 2019, Day was appointed chair of the Irish Citizens' Assembly on Gender Equality. In December 2019 Day was appointed chair of the Expert Group on Direct Provision.

Honours

* Grand officer of the Order of Leopold. * She has honorary doctorates from

, Griffith College Dublin and the

University of Limerick University of Limerick (UL) () is a Public university, public research university institution in Limerick, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Founded in 1972, as the National Institute for Higher Education, Limerick, it became a university in Septemb ...

. * President of Ireland Distinguished Service Award 2014 * Garret Fitzgerald Gold Medal for International Relations 2015 * UCD Foundation Medalist 2015.

References

External links

Interview with European Commission Secretary-General Catherine Day
euractiv.com 26 September 2006; updated 8 June 2007 (retrieved 23 May 2015)
Will the post-Brexit EU be different? Lecture by Catherine Day at the RIA, 10 January 2018.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Day, Catherine 1954 births Alumni of University College Dublin Irish civil servants Irish women civil servants Living people People from Mount Merrion People educated at Mount Anville Secondary School Secretaries-general of the European Commission 20th-century Irish civil servants 21st-century Irish civil servants Irish officials of the European Union