Brussels, 05/05/2014 (Agence Europe) - Richard Kuehnel has been appointed Head of Representation of the European Commission in Germany (Berlin), the European Commission announced on Monday 5 May. With over 20 years of experience in diplomatic and European affairs, he will take office on 1 June 2014.
Before joining the European Commission, Kuehnel started his career in the national diplomatic service of Austria in 1994. Between 1997 and 2000, he served as First Secretary at the Austrian Embassy in Tokyo, in charge of economic and financial relations. From 2000 to 2003, Kuehnel was Counsellor at the Permanent Mission of Austria to the United Nations in New York. In 2003, he returned to Vienna, first as Adviser to the Director General for Development Cooperation and then as a member of Cabinet of the Foreign Minister.
In 2004, Kuehnel joined the European Commission as a member of Cabinet of the then European Commissioner for External Relations and European Neighbourhood Policy, Benita Ferrero-Waldner. His responsibilities included multilateral relations and the G8, human rights and democracy, as well as inter-institutional relations. Since 2008, he has been Head of Representation of the European Commission in Austria. Kuehnel is a lawyer by training, with an emphasis on international and European law. (LC)