2023-12-25 07:10:00
In several of these matters, skills are shared at the Belgian level. “I am very happy that within the Permanent Representation (PR), we have mixed federal and regional agents. We are so much stronger together,” says the French-speaking ambassador from Flemish Brabant.
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During the coming months, this “countryman”, father of three children, will have little time to “garden and get some fresh air”, nor to practice “his hour of sport”. Pierre Cartuyels’s mission will be to develop with his peers from other Member States the agreements which will be endorsed by the ministers – almost 80% of deals are concluded at Coreper level – or, at the very least, to clear the way for a compromise. It will also be up to him, as well as the competent Belgian ministers, to represent the Council’s position in the negotiations with the European Parliament.
The path that led Pierre Cartuyvels to the position he holds is unique. A lawyer specializing in tax and environmental law, he was then an advisor in the latter area for the Walloon Region. From 2000 to 2006, he held the position of mayor (CD&V) of the municipality of Landen, located on the borders of Flemish Brabant with Limburg and the province of Liège… An experience lived “very young” (he was 35 years old when he girds the mayoral scarf) which he “adored” and which he says “[l’] helps a lot, because I see things a little more concretely, what all our European regulations imply at local level, but also at company level.” Then he added: “It’s the same kind of work in a certain sense, but on other levels. It’s public service. Be aware of its possible impact and responsibility.”
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At the same time as he was exercising his municipal mandate, Pierre Cartuyvels began a career as a diplomat, at the PR, during the Belgian presidency of 2001, then at the Belgian PR at NATO. After a stint in New York with the black-yellow-red PR at the United Nations, he became, from 2009, advisor to Prime Ministers CD&V Van Rompuy then Leterme. It is in this role that he will experience the Belgian presidency of 2010. He then takes the path to the Palace, as advisor to the prince, then to King Philippe, of whom he will be deputy chief of staff.
In 2020, Belgian diplomacy remembers his fond memories and invites him to take on the role of number 2 of the PR with the EU, in anticipation of the Belgian presidency of the Council in 2023. From the ambassador to the of gentleman, a good connoisseur of the mysteries of PR says “that he is quite clever in the way of handling a file. He doesn’t seem to touch it, but he shows a lot of determination.” He is also credited with great listening skills, which will be useful to him. “At Coreper I, everything is decided by qualified majority (55% of Member States representing 65% of the Union’s population, Editor’s note). We will have a number of files on the table and if we want to close them, we will have to count ourselves each time to see if we have a majority”, recalls the ambassador. This is the beauty of the thing: no one is in able to block; and from one file to another, from one day to another, the majorities change. We have to be friends with everyone. We cannot afford to ostracize a Member State.”
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