Barack Obama’s nominee for the post of US ambassador to the European Union, Anthony Luzzatto Gardner, was confirmed by the US Senate in a vote on 12 February.

Gardner, who replaces William Kennard, is no stranger to EU relations, having served as the director for European affairs in the National Security Council for 14 months in 1994-95, under Anthony Lake, where his responsibilities included relations with the EU institutions. He did an internship with the European Commission in Brussels in 1990-91, and spent a further 18 months in the Brussels offices of Coudert Brothers, a law firm, in 1992-94, before going to the National Security Council, then returned to Brussels for 18 months from January 1996 as a senior associate at the law firm Hogan & Hartson. In total, he spent eight years practising law in Europe.

Gardner will have to hit the ground running. His boss, President Obama, will be visiting Brussels at the end of March.

New role for Obama adviser

Staying in Washington, DC, Karen Donfried, who is currently special assistant to Obama and senior director for European affairs on the National Security Council, is to be the next president and chief executive of the German Marshall Fund of the United States. In April she will take over from Craig Kennedy, who has been GMF president for 19 years.

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