by Miceál O’Hurley
Diplomatic Editor
DUBLIN — His Excellency Pierre-Emmanuel De Bauw, Ambassador of the Kingdom of Belgium to Ireland provided his insight on numerous topics in a comprehensive interview with Diplomat Ireland.
Recorded on Thursday, 15 October 2020 from the Belgium Ambassador’s historic residence on Ailesbury Road, Dublin (the former home of the Dunlop family) Ambassador De Bauw discusses the state of irish-Belgium relations, Belgian investment in Ireland, the United Nations Security Council, the impact of Brexit and Covid-19 on trade in Europe, the development of new sea trade routes between Belgium and Ireland’s harbours in both Dublin and Cork and more.
His Excellency Pierre-Emmanuel De Bauw – A Career Diplomat
A career diplomat, Pierre-Emmanuel De Bauw joined the Belgian Foreign Service in 1991. His first assignment as press and information officer, first at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, then at the Permanent Representation of Belgium to the EU, naturally led to what became a guiding thread in his career: a combined interest and expertise in communications and EU affairs.
Pierre-Emmanuel De Bauw held positions at the Embassies of Belgium in Bogota, Colombia where he was Deputy Head of Mission (1994-1995) and in Washington DC as Political, Press and Information Secretary (1995-1998). After being Deputy Spokesman of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (1998-1999), he joined the Cabinet of King Albert II as Political Advisor to Crown Prince Philippe and Spokesman of the Royal Palace (2000-2003). He was Ambassador of Belgium to Cuba in 2003-2005.
Back in Brussels, Pierre-Emmanuel joined the EU Division at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (2005-2007), then became Deputy Chief of Staff to King Albert II (2007-2012). As Director General for External Communications at the Chancery of the Prime Minister (2012-2013) he reorganised government communications services. Before being appointed Ambassador to Ireland in October 2017, he was Media and Communications Director of the Royal Palace (2013-2017), a position he took at the outset of the reign of then newly installed King Philippe.
Pierre-Emmanuel De Bauw was raised in Brussels. He holds Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Law from the Université Catholique de Louvain (UCL) and a post-graduate degree in Public Management from the Solvay Business School of Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB).
Pierre-Emmanuel is married. Together with his wife Joëlle they have four grown up children. They enjoy nature, hiking, classical music and contemporary art.
