An economist by training, he has been an official in the European Commission since 1985 in the fields of Enterprise and Industrial Policy and of External Relations.
First working in the area of food industry within the Internal Market and Industrial Affairs Directorate-General (DG), he joined the service in charge of relations with Central and Eastern Europe and the USSR in 1989, and became Assistant to the responsible Deputy Director-General in 1990 until 1996 when he came back to Enterprise and Industry DG.
A former Deputy-Head of Office of Commissioner Liikanen in charge of enterprise and industrial policy, he has occupied several management positions:
- Food Industry and Biotechnology;
- Coordination of the internal market legislation for goods;
- Enterprise and Industrial policy;
- Defence, Aerospace and Maritime Industries.
From December 2008 until May 2015, he has been Director in DG GROWTH (DG Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs), in charge of competitiveness issues and EU internal market legislation for several industrial sectors, including REACH, engineering industries, medical devices, raw materials, etc..
Since June 2015, his main responsibilities in DG GROW cover: circular economy, energy union and energy-intensive industries, construction, automotive industries, rail, raw materials, engineering and maritime industries.