Maciej Popowski (born 25 November 1964) is a Polish diplomat and official, and Director-General of the Directorate-General for European Civil Protection & Humanitarian Aid Operations.

Life

In 1988, Maciej Popowski earned his master's degree in German and Dutch language and literature at the

University of Wrocław The University of Wrocław (, UWr; ) is a public research university in Wrocław, Poland. It is the largest institution of higher learning in the Lower Silesian Voivodeship, with over 100,000 graduates since 1945, including some 1,900 researcher ...

. He has been educated also at the

University of Siegen The University of Siegen () is a public research university located in Siegen, North Rhine-Westphalia and is part of the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, a society of Germany's leading research universities. The university was founded in 1972. ...

(1989–1990;

DAAD scholarship The German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD; ), founded in 1925, is a joint organization of German universities and student bodies to foster their international relations. Since 1 January 2020, the president has been Joybrato Mukherjee. Organisa ...

Polish Institute of International Affairs The Polish Institute of International Affairs (PISM, ) is a Polish think tank based in Warsaw which carries out research and training in international relations. In this field, it ranks as one of the most influential think tanks not just in Ce ...

(1991), and Akademie Auswärtiger Dienst in

Bonn Bonn () is a federal city in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, located on the banks of the Rhine. With a population exceeding 300,000, it lies about south-southeast of Cologne, in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ruhr region. This ...

(1991–1992). Between 1988 and 1991 he was working at the University of Wrocław. In 1991, he joined the

Ministry of Foreign Affairs In many countries, the ministry of foreign affairs (abbreviated as MFA or MOFA) is the highest government department exclusively or primarily responsible for the state's foreign policy and relations, diplomacy, bilateral, and multilateral r ...

. In 1993, he moved to

Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...

to work at the Mission of Poland to the European Union at the rank of Second Secretary (1993–1995), First Secretary (1995–1998) and Counsellor (1998–1999). Then, from 2000 he was Deputy Director, and from 2001 Director of the MFA Department of the European Union. He was responsible for relations with the EU Member States and

European institutions European integration is the process of political, legal, social, regional and economic integration of states wholly or partially in Europe, or nearby. European integration has primarily but not exclusively come about through the European Union ...

, accession negotiations, Intergovernmental Conference 2000, Common Foreign and Security Policy. In 2001, he returned to the Mission in Brussels to where he was Deputy Head in charge of accession negotiations (focal point for the European Commission and the Permanent Representations of Member States), European Convention and

Intergovernmental Conference In the politics of the European Union, an Intergovernmental Conference (IGC) is the formal procedure for negotiating amendments to the EU's founding treaties. Under the treaties, an IGC is called into being by the European Council, and is composed ...

2004 (contact point), implementation of the

Association Agreement A European Union Association Agreement or simply Association Agreement (AA) is a treaty between the European Union (EU, or its predecessors), its Member States and a non-EU country or bloc of countries that governs bilateral relations. Areas fre ...

(secretary of the Association Council), preparation of the transition of the mission into a permanent representation, management of the mission (including personnel and administration). Since 2003 he was Deputy Head of Mission – Ambassador, Representative of Poland to the

Political and Security Committee The Political and Security Committee (PSC; sometimes referred to by its French ''COPS'' acronym derived from ''Comité politique et de sécurité'') is a permanent body within the European Union dealing with Common Foreign and Security Policy is ...

. In 2008, Popowski joined the European institutions. He became Director in the Directorate-General for Development,

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 ...

, being responsible for Policy Coherence for Development,

aid effectiveness In international relations, aid (also known as international aid, overseas aid, foreign aid, economic aid or foreign assistance) is – from the perspective of governments – a voluntary transfer of resources from one country to another. The ...

, aid financing, relations with other donors, public communication. Following year, he was promoted Head of Cabinet of the

President of the European Parliament The president of the European Parliament presides over the debates and activities of the European Parliament. They also represent the Parliament within the European Union (EU) and internationally. The president's signature is required for Euro ...

Jerzy Buzek Jerzy Karol Buzek (; born 3 July 1940) is a Polish politician and former Member of the European Parliament from Poland. He has served as Prime Minister of Poland from 1997 to 2001, since being elected to the European Parliament in 2004, he serv ...

. Between 2011 and 2015 he was Deputy Secretary-General of the

European External Action Service The European External Action Service (EEAS) is the diplomatic service in charge of executing all Foreign relations of the European Union, international relations of the European Union. The EEAS is led by the Vice-President of the European Co ...

. Among his chief responsibilities were

Common Security and Defence Policy The Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP) is the European Union's (EU) course of action in the fields of defence and crisis management, and a main component of the EU's Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP). The CSDP involves the de ...

security policy Security policy is a definition of what it means to ''be secure'' for a system, organization or other entity. For an organization, it addresses the constraints on behavior of its members as well as constraints imposed on adversaries by mechanisms ...

and conflict prevention, development policy,

human rights Human rights are universally recognized Morality, moral principles or Social norm, norms that establish standards of human behavior and are often protected by both Municipal law, national and international laws. These rights are considered ...

and democracy, relations with

European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the two legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it ...

. Since 16 April 2016, he is Deputy Director-General at the Directorate-General for European Neighbourhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations ( DG NEAR). On 16 September 2020, he became DG NEAR Acting Director-General. Beside Polish,

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

Dutch Dutch or Nederlands commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands ** Dutch people as an ethnic group () ** Dutch nationality law, history and regulations of Dutch citizenship () ** Dutch language () * In specific terms, i ...

, he speaks

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

French French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), ...

Russian Russian(s) may refer to: *Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *A citizen of Russia *Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages *''The Russians'', a b ...

Honours

* 2005 – Silver Cross of Merit * 2012 – Officer's Cross of the

Order of Polonia Restituta The Order of Polonia Restituta (, ) is a Polish state decoration, state Order (decoration), order established 4 February 1921. It is conferred on both military and civilians as well as on alien (law), foreigners for outstanding achievements in ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Popowski, Maciej 1964 births European Union diplomats Living people Officers of the Order of Polonia Restituta Polish officials of the European Union Polish diplomats Recipients of the Silver Cross of Merit (Poland) University of Wrocław alumni Academic staff of the University of Wrocław