Alberto de Gregorio Merino, general director of the European Commission’s legal service

The European Commission has appointed Alberto de Gregorio Merino as the new general director of its legal service, replacing Daniel Calleja, who has been appointed as the new Director of the European Commission Representation in Spain. The date of entry into force will be determined at a later date.

Alberto de Gregorio Merino

Alberto de Gregorio Merino has almost 25 years of experience in the European Union institutions, where he has developed his career in the field of Community law. He has provided legal advice on various policies, including economic and monetary union, the internal market, external relations, the rule of law, the budget and the multiannual financial framework, trade and agriculture, as well as on institutional issues.

He has in-depth knowledge of the Union’s legal framework and decision-making processes, acquired through years of advising the European Commission, the Council of the European Union and the European Council on complex legal and political issues.

A Spanish national, he is currently Director of the European Commission’s Legal Service, responsible for financial services, fundamental freedoms, commercial law and intellectual property law. He was previously Director of the Legal Service of the Council of the European Union. Between 2005 and 2016, he worked as a legal adviser in the same institution, where he provided support to the Cabinet of the President of the European Council.

Before joining the Commission in 2002 as a member of its Legal Service, he worked in a law firm and was a professor of public law at the University of Salamanca.

According to a statement from the European Commission, De Gregorio Merino has been involved in the creation of mechanisms to address the financial and debt crisis, such as the Banking Union and the European Stability Mechanism, as well as in issues related to Brexit and instruments to support Ukraine. He has also managed dossiers such as Next Generation EU, the Rule of Law Conditionality Regulation, the Multiannual Financial Framework and the Own Resources system.