Martin Selmayr

Martin Selmayr has been the Head of Representation of the European Commission in Austria since November 2019. Previously, he was Chief of Staff of the President of the Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker, and later Secretary-General of the European Commission. Mr. Selmayr studied law at the Universities of Geneva and Passau, at King's College London and at the University of California (Berkeley/Davis). He holds a doctorate in law from the University of Passau and is Honorary Professor for Economic and Financial Law at the University of Saarbrücken. After positions as lecturer at the Chair for EU Law and Public International Law in Passau, as lawyer at the European Central Bank, the International Monetary Fund and the media company Bertelsmann, Mr. Selmayr joined the European Commission as an official on 1 November 2004. He served under President José Manuel Durão Barroso first as Spokesperson for Telecoms and Media (2004-2010) and then as Chief of Staff for Vice-President Viviane Reding, in charge of Justice, Fundamental Rights and Citizenship (2010-2014). In this capacity, Mr. Selmayr played a key role in the preparation of the Roaming Regulations, the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation and the establishment of a European Public Prosecutor’s Office. In 2014, during an unpaid leave of absence, Mr. Selmayr managed the election campaign of Jean-Claude Juncker, then lead candidate of the European People’s Party for President of the Commission. When the European Council proposed Juncker as Commission President after the European Parliament elections, Mr. Selmayr became Head of his Transition Team where he prepared the strategic priorities and structures of the new Commission. On 1 November 2014, he was appointed Chief of Staff of the President. As Sherpa of the Commission President, Mr. Selmayr participated, amongst others, in the negotiations of the 2015 stability support program for Greece, the Paris Climate Agreement, the EU-Japan Trade Agreement, the EU-Turkey Statement on migration, the Brexit negotiations as well as in the preparation of G7- and G20-meetings. In February 2018, the Commission appointed Mr. Selmayr as its Secretary-General. In this capacity, Mr. Selmayr coordinated the preparation of the Multiannual Financial Framework Agreement 2021-2027, the work on the Withdrawal Agreement with the United Kingdom and the EU-China strategy 2019. He also negotiated the so-called “soybeans deal” between the European Commission and the Trump Administration In his (rare) spare time, Mr. Selmayr is teaching EU Law at the Universities of Saarbrücken, Passau, Vienna and at the Danube University in Krems. He is the author of more than 70 law journal articles, book contributions and books, including a book on the Law of the European Central Bank (in English and Italian) and a leading commentary on the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation. Since 2022, he is also honorary Academic Director of the Centre for European Law at the University of Passau.