Uwe Corsepius (born 9 August 1960) is a German diplomat, and former

Secretary-General of the Council of the European Union The Secretary-General of the Council of the European Union heads the General Secretariat of the Council of the European Union. In April 2015, the Council appointed the Danish diplomat Jeppe Tranholm-Mikkelsen as Secretary-General of the Council fo ...

. He was succeeded by

Jeppe Tranholm-Mikkelsen Jeppe Tranholm-Mikkelsen (born 30 October 1962) is a Danish diplomat who has served as Secretary-General of the Council of the European Union from 2015 to 2022. Early life and education Jeppe Tranholm-Mikkelsen was born on 30 October 1962 in A ...

Early life and education

Uwe Corsepius was born in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. In 1984 he earned a degree in economics from the

University of Erlangen-Nuremberg A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, t ...

. He is regarded as a disciple of the renowned economist

Horst Steinmann Horst Steinmann (born 17 July 1934) is a German economist and professor emeritus of management economics and business administration at the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg. His scholarly papers have been featured in the ''Social Science Researc ...

. He earned his doctorate at the Kiel Institute for the World Economy (

Institut für Weltwirtschaft The Kiel Institute for the World Economy (Institut für Weltwirtschaft, or IfW) is an independent, non-profit economic research institute and think tank based in Kiel, Germany. In 2017, it was ranked as one of the top 50 most influential think ta ...

Career

In 1990 Corsepius became a civil servant in the Federal Ministry of Economy and Labour. From 1992, he worked at the

International Monetary Fund The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is a major financial agency of the United Nations, and an international financial institution, headquartered in Washington, D.C., consisting of 190 countries. Its stated mission is "working to foster globa ...

in Washington. From 1994 he was an official in the Federal Chancellery in Berlin, at first under

Chancellor Chancellor ( la, cancellarius) is a title of various official positions in the governments of many nations. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the or lattice work screens of a basilica or law cou ...

Helmut Kohl Helmut Josef Michael Kohl (; 3 April 1930 – 16 June 2017) was a German politician who served as Chancellor of Germany from 1982 to 1998 and Leader of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) from 1973 to 1998. Kohl's 16-year tenure is the longes ...

, then under successor

Gerhard Schröder Gerhard Fritz Kurt "Gerd" Schröder (; born 7 April 1944) is a German lobbyist and former politician, who served as the chancellor of Germany from 1998 to 2005. From 1999 to 2004, he was also the Leader of the Social Democratic Party of Germany ...

. When Chancellor

Angela Merkel Angela Dorothea Merkel (; ; born 17 July 1954) is a German former politician and scientist who served as Chancellor of Germany from 2005 to 2021. A member of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), she previously served as Leader of the Oppo ...

assumed her office in November 2005, Corsepius was in charge of economic aspects of European integration and was negotiating the EU's 2007-13 budget. Shortly after, Merkel promoted him to replace Reinhard Silberberg as head of Department 5 (European Policy). Subsequently, Corsepius coordinated the German European policy between 2005 and 2011, including the preparations for Germany's presidency of the EU in the first half of 2007 as well as the drafting of the Berlin Declaration. From February 2011, he served as interim advisor on economic and financial policy and as G8 sherpa to Merkel, following his predecessor

Jens Weidmann Jens Weidmann (born 20 April 1968) is a German economist who served as president of the Deutsche Bundesbank between 2011 and 2021. He also served as chairman of the Board of the Bank for International Settlements. Before moving to the Bundesbank, ...

's move to become president of the

Deutsche Bundesbank The Deutsche Bundesbank (), literally "German Federal Bank", is the central bank of the Federal Republic of Germany and as such part of the European System of Central Banks (ESCB). Due to its strength and former size, the Bundesbank is the most ...

. In late 2009, Corsepius was chosen by the Heads of state or Government (

European Council The European Council (informally EUCO) is a collegiate body that defines the overall political direction and priorities of the European Union. It is composed of the heads of state or government of the EU member states, the President of the E ...

) to become the new

for the period from 26 June 2011 to 30 June 2015. He succeeded to Frenchman

Pierre de Boissieu Pierre de Boissieu (; born 1945) is a French diplomat and former French ambassador to the European Union (EU). He was the Secretary-General of the Council of the European Union from 1 December 2009 until 26 June 2011. In this post he was preceded ...

in 2011. Catalogued as a "gruff" person, he is seen with critical eyes in Brussels, because he has "little understanding of the interests and needs of others". Given the fact that

Klaus Welle Klaus Welle (born ) is a German politician who has served as Secretary General of the European Parliament since 15 March 2009. He was previously Head of the Office (chef de cabinet) of the President of the European Parliament, Hans-Gert Poetteri ...

, another German, is the Secretary General of the European Parliament, in 2011, two Germans were concurrently in the administration of the two EU legislative chambers. Corsepius's successor as a Director of European Affairs in the Chancellery was

Nikolaus Meyer-Landrut Nikolaus Meyer-Landrut (born 1960) is a German diplomat currently serving as the Head of the EU Delegation to Turkey. He was previously German Ambassador to France from 2015 to 2020. Before that, he served as the chief adviser for European affa ...

. In a 2015 reshuffle, Meyer-Landrut was made German Ambassador to France and Corsepius resumed his position as chief advisor on European affairs to Chancellor Merkel. In 2015, news media reported that Corsepius was included in a Russian blacklist of prominent people from the European Union who are not allowed to enter the country.Laurence Norman (May 30, 2015)
Russia Produces Blacklist of EU People Banned From Entering Country
''

Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...

''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Corsepius, Uwe 1960 births European Union diplomats Living people German officials of the European Union