Catherine Day

Catherine Day (* in Dublin, Ireland) is the reigning Secretary General of the European Commission. It is the highest official in the current Commission " Barroso II".

Life

Day studied economics and political science at University College Dublin and graduated with a Master of Arts in International Trade and Economic Integration from. Before she a career at the European Commission, she was employed as a loan officer at the Investment Bank of Ireland (1974-1975) and as an EC Information Officer at the Confederation of Irish Industry ( Confederation of Irish Industry) ( 1975-1979 ). From 1979 to 1984 she worked as a clerk at the former DG III ( Internal Market and Industry ).

She then worked in the private offices of Richard Burke, Peter Sutherland and Leon Brittan. She was appointed Director General for External Relations in 1996, but moved to the top of DG Enlargement, where she was responsible for relations with the then candidate countries in Central and Eastern Europe a year later. After further positions in the Directorates-General for External Relations (2000-2002) and the environment (2002-2005), she was appointed head of the Secretariat General of the European Commission in November 2005. This makes it one - in addition to the members of his Cabinet - the closest colleagues of José Manuel Barroso.

Awards

• 2004: Grand Decoration of Honour for Services to the Republic of Austria