Pierre de Boissieu – named secretary-general of the EU Council of Ministers - is much more than a key player in European integration. He is almost a legend for a whole generation of diplomats, Eurocrats and journalists, who frequented the corridors of the EU from the mid-1970s to the end of the last decade. Arriving in Brussels in 1978 to serve in the cabinet of Commission Vice-President François-Xavier Ortoli, the 35-year-old ‘énarque’ (graduate of the ENA, which trains senior civil servants) wasted no time getting his bearings with respect to his colleagues, his interlocutors and some would even say his boss. He was no stranger to the success of the two initiatives that paved the way to the euro: the creation of the European Monetary System and of the European Currency Unit, the ECU.

This first part of his EU career in Brussels came to an end in 1984, but de Boissieu continued in a lower profile for five years in Paris, at the Directorate for Economic Affairs at the Quai d’Orsay. In 1993, he was named permanent representative of France to the EU institutions. Breaking longevity records both at the head of this embassy and among his European counterparts, de Boissieu wielded major influence, until 1999, in the Council’s bodies: in the Committee of Permanent Representatives (Coreper), ministerial meetings and even at European Councils. Making every effort to steer clear of any political label, he was adviser to François Mitterrand and Jacques Chirac, and both heeded his opinions.

His ideas, his battles and his successes are also found in numerous important decisions, including the EU’s successive treaties. Some remember his standoffs with Jacques Delors’ teams over the pillar structure of the Maastricht Treaty. De Boissieu never became an activist for European federalism. His intelligence, his experience in Germany at the start of his diplomatic career and his experience with complex negotiations in Brussels made of him what is customarily called a ‘European of reason’. His convictions and his actions quickly earned him the admiration of some - and the antipathy of others.

Named deputy secretary-general of the Council in September 1999, de Boissieu suddenly moved out of the light into the shadow, from extreme mediatisation to deliberate anonymity. The discretion of his new role, however, did not equate with powerlessness. As Secretary-General Javier Solana focused on his responsibilities as high representative for the CFSP, de Boissieu became the real head of the institution. His knowledge of the issues, of the institutional machinery and of the political figures of the EU member states made him a key figure. And that is assuredly the essential reason that led the European Council to reappoint him to this office, this time with the title of secretary-general, until his retirement, set for June 2011.