Pierre Defraigne

Visiting professor, EU International Relations and Diplomacy Studies Department

An economist and European civil servant from 1970 to 2005, Pierre Defraigne (BE) is currently Executive Director of the Madariaga - College of Europe Foundation. He became Deputy Director-General in DG Trade after having been Head of Cabinet for Pascal Lamy, European Commissioner for Trade, from 1985 to 1999 he was Director for North-South Relations, and previously Head of Cabinet for Etienne Davignon, then Vice-President of the European Commission. He set up eur-IFRI, the Brussels branch of the French Institute for International Relations (Eur-Ifri), which he directed from 2005 to 2008.

Pierre Defraigne is a lecturer in political economy at the College of Europe in Bruges and at the Institute for European Studies, Université catholique de Louvain and Facultés universitaires Saint-Louis, Belgium. He is also a visiting professor at Zhejiang University, China. His interests focus on international economic policies, political economy and relations with developing countries.