Pascal Lamy graduated from the HEC Paris School of Management, the Institute of Political Studies (IEP) and National School of Administration (ENA). He started his career in France’s civil service at the General Inspectorate of Finance and Treasury Department. He was subsequently advisor to the Minister of Finance, Mr. Jacques Delors, then to the Prime Minister, Mr. Pierre Mauroy.
From 1985 to 1994 in Brussels, Pascal Lamy was Head of Cabinet of the President of the European Commission, Mr. Jacques Delors, who he represented as a “Sherpa” at the G7.
In November 1994, he joined the team tasked with restructuring a French bank, Crédit Lyonnais. He was subsequently Chief Executive Officer of the bank until its privatization in 1999.
From 1999 to 2004, Pascal Lamy was Trade Commissioner at the European Commission chaired by Mr. Romano Prodi.
Following his mandate in Brussels, Pascal Lamy chaired the association “Our Europe”, a think tank working on European integration, and became visiting professor at the Paris Institute of Political Studies and advisor to Poul Nyrup Rasmussen (President of the Party of European Socialists).
Finally, he held the position of Director-General of the World Trade Organization (WTO) from 2005 to 2013.