2004–2007 UK Permanent Representative to the EU Political and Security Committee in Brussels, covering common foreign and security policy (CFSP).
2005 Chaired the EU Political and Security Committee during the UK presidency
2008–2009 Head of the office of the British Commissioner in Brussels (Peter Mandelson then Baroness Ashton). Represented the EU27 on international trade matters, including negotiations on the WTODoha Round.
He married a Danish colleague, Lotte Knudsen in 1992 near Gers in south-west France.[13] They had met as students in Paris and still have a house near where they married. Lotte Knudsen is currently Managing Director, Human Rights, Global & Multilateral Issues in the European External Action Service (EEAS) and previously held senior posts in the European Commission, including as Director for Justice Matters in the Directorate-General for Justice, Freedom and Security[14]