Karel De Gucht

Session 3 - "Populism v. LIO: EU"

Mr. Karel De Gucht is the President of the Institute for European Studies (IES) at the Free University of Brussels (VUB), where he teaches European Law. He is a Director at Arcelor Mittal, a Member to the Advisory Board of CVC Capital Partners, and serves on the Board of Proximus. In 2015, Mr. De Gucht was a Spring Fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School. He is a prominent figure in European, Belgian and Flemish politics and served as the European Commissioner for Trade (2010-2014), where he was pivotal in negotiating, concluding and managing several European free trade and investment agreements. He was also the European Commissioner for Development and Humanitarian Aid in 2009-2010 and the Belgian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs (2004-2009). Mr. De Gucht graduated from the Free University of Brussels (VUB) with a Master’s degree in Law in 1976.