Nieuwe onderdirecteur DG staatssteun (en)

Today the European Commission appointed Mr. Herbert Ungerer as Deputy Director-General for state aid policy in the Directorate-General for Competition (DG COMP). Under the guidance of the Director-General he will be responsible for dealing with state aid control and the development of policy in this area.

In his new role, Mr Ungerer will lead policy development, planning and management in the area of state aid. State aid control is a vital part of the Commission's efforts to keep the internal market open and make competition work for the benefit of the European consumer. It aims at preventing wasteful subsidy races between Member States and distortions of competition to the disadvantage of sound economic development. The comprehensive reform of state aid currently under way aims at less distortion and at re-targeting aid at main EU objectives, in particular R&D and innovation, energy and climate change, and regional development and cohesion.

Currently, Mr Ungerer is Director for energy and environment at the Competition DG. Since 1 September 2007 he has also been acting Deputy Director-General for state aid policy. Previously he was Director in charge of energy, basic industries, chemicals and pharmaceuticals in the Competition DG. He was also responsible for the competition sector inquiries in the electricity and gas markets, contributing to the proposals for further market opening published by the Commission on 19 September 2007.

Herbert Ungerer, a 63-year-old German, has held numerous positions in the Competition DG, and in other DGs of the Commission since he started his career at the Information Society and Media DG in 1975. In particular he was responsible for the development of policies leading to the EU-wide liberalisation of telecommunications and the GSM system, and for the application of competition rules in the media sector.

Before joining the European Commission, Mr Ungerer worked in the private sector, at IBM. He holds doctorates in physics and economics, as well as an MBA from Insead. During 1999/2000 he was EU Fellow at the Center for International Affairs at Harvard University.