Since September 2024, Martin Selmayr serves as Ambassador of the European Union in Rome. He is Ambassador of the European Union to the Holy See, the Order of Malta and the Republic of San Marino and Permanent Representative of the European Union to the Rome-based United Nations Organisations – the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the World Food Programme (WFP) and the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD).
Prior to his posting to Rome, Ambassador Selmayr served, amongst others, as Chief of Staff to European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker (2014-2018), as Secretary-General of the European Commission (2018-2019) and as European Commission Representative to Austria (2019-2024). He was sherpa of the Commission President at G7, G20 and UN meetings and in key bilateral and multilateral negotiations, including those related to the third stability programme for Greece, the Paris Climate Agreement, the EU-Turkey statement on migration, the EU-Japan trade agreement and the Brexit negotiations. As Secretary-General of the European Commission, he coordinated the work on the EU’s Multiannual Financial Framework 2021-2027 and was in charge of the EU-U.S. trade talks during the Trump administration
Ambassador Selmayr was born in Bonn (Germany) in 1970. He studied law at the Universities of Geneva and Passau, King’s College London and the University of California (Davis/Berkeley). He holds a doctorate in law from the University of Passau and is Honorary Professor for European Economic and Financial Law at the University of Saarbrücken. After positions as lecturer at the Chair for EU Law and Public International Law in Passau, as lawyer at the European Central Bank, the International Monetary Fund and the media company Bertelsmann, Selmayr joined the European Commission as an official on 1 November 2004 where he was first Commission spokesperson for telecoms and media policy (2004-2010) and then Chief of Staff to Viviane Reding, Vice-President of the European Commission in charge of Justice, Fundamental Rights and Citizenship (2010-2014).
In his (rare) spare time, Ambassador Selmayr is teaching EU Law (institutional law, sustainability law, digital law, competition law, law of economic and monetary union) at the Universities of Saarbrücken, Passau, Vienna and Krems. He is the author or co-author of more than 70 law journal articles, book contributions and books, including a book on the Law of the European Central Bank (in English and Italian) and a leading German commentary on the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation. He is also contributing to a legal commentary on the EU’s AI Act.
Ambassador Selmayr was decorated by the Kingdom of Spain with the Royal and Distinguished Spanish Order of Charles III and by the Republic of Austria with the Grand Decoration of Honour in Silver with Sash for Services to the Republic of Austria.