Mr. Koos Richelle Europe Aid Co-operation Office, European Commission

Koos Richelle graduated in Dutch Constitutional and Public law at Erasmus University Rotterdam in 1972. From 1972 to 1981 he worked for the Ministry of Education and Science. He was Director-General at the Ministry of Welfare and Health (1985 – 1995), the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (1995 – 2000) and the Ministry of Social Affairs and Labour (2000 – 2001) before joining the European Commission in 2001. For the first three years, he was Director-General of Development. Since 2003 Mr. Richelle has been Director-General of the EuropeAid Co-operation Office. As DG he advises the Commission on the distribution of European Union development aid, which amounts to more than seven billion Euros per year.