Today, the European Commission appointed Marek Prawda (PhD) as the new Head of the European Commission Representation in Poland.
Dr Prawda, who will take up office on 1 April 2016, brings over twenty years of diplomatic experience to the post. An experienced career diplomat, Dr Prawda has served under different Polish administrations both in Warsaw and abroad since the early 1990s.
His first posting was in 1992, as First Secretary to the Embassy of Poland in Bonn, Germany, where he served for six years before being appointed Deputy Director and, in 1999, Director of the Department of Western Europe at Poland’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In 2001 he was Director of the Secretariat of the Minister of Foreign Affairs, before being posted as Poland’s Ambassador to Sweden for four years.
In 2005, Dr Prawda became Director at the Secretariat of the Minister of Foreign Affairs, before being nominated Poland’s Ambassador to Germany in 2006. He worked in Berlin until 2012 when he was named Permanent Representative of Poland to the European Union. He returned to Poland on 1 March as Ambassador, Counsel to the European Policy department at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Dr Prawda graduated from the University of Leipzig with a degree in economic studies. He subsequently obtained a PhD degree in sociology as part of his doctoral studies followed at the Institute of Philosophy and Sociology of the Polish Academy of Science, after which he did research at the Institute’s Department of German Studies.
His last posting was as Permanent Representative of Poland to the European Union a function that he occupied from September 2012 to March 2016.
Background
The Commission has Representations in all 28 EU Member States as well as Regional Offices in Barcelona, Belfast, Bonn, Cardiff, Edinburgh, Marseille, Milan, Munich and Wroclaw. The Representations are the Commission's eyes, ears and voice on the ground in all EU Member States. They interact with national authorities and stakeholders and inform the media and the public about EU policies. The Representations report to the Commission's headquarters on significant developments in the Member States.
Since the beginning of the Juncker Commission, Heads of Representations are appointed by the President and are his political representatives in the Member State to which they are posted.
Source: European Commission - Press release
