The European Union officially opened its new office in San Francisco Sept. 1, 2022  to liaise with tech companies based in the US (Credit: Wikipedia Commons) 

By  Gary  Raynaldo    DIPLOMATIC  TIMES

SAN FRANCISCO,  California   –  The European Union this month officially  opened its new office in San Francisco, California, a global centre for digital technology and innovation.  The opening of the office is a result of the 2021 EU-US Summit shared commitment to strengthen transatlantic technological cooperation and is a core part of the Conclusions on Digital Diplomacy, adopted by EU Foreign Affairs Council in July of this year, according to the EU.   Prior to the opening of the EU San Francisco office, a group of MEPs travelled to the US in August to speak with tech companies such as Google, Meta, Apple, Airbnb, eBay, PayPal and Uber to exchange views on the EU’s digital policy agenda.

“The office will reinforce the EU’s cooperation with the United States on digital diplomacy and strengthen the EU’s capacity to reach out to key public and private stakeholders, including policy makers, the business community, and civil society in the digital technology sector”

 said Josep Borrell, the EU’s high representative for foreign affairs and security policy

EU’s San Francisco California  office will initially be co-located with the Irish Consulate near downtown San Francisco.  (Credit: dfa.ie)

The EU office in San Francisco will seek to promote EU standards and technologies, digital policies and regulations and governance models, and to strengthen cooperation with US stakeholders, including by advancing the work of the EU-US Trade and Technology Council.

EU Official  Gerard de Graaf  To Head San Francisco Office 

Senior EU Envoy for Digital and Head of the new EU Office in San Francisco as of 1 September 2022, Gerard de Graaf (Credit: cepa.org)

The office will be led by Gerard de Graaf, a key EU official who played a key role in the Digital Markets Act and Digital Services Act.  Monsieur  de Graaf has worked for more than 30 years in the European Commission across a wide range of policy areas. Until his recent appointment, he was director in DG CNECT, responsible inter alia for the Digital Services and Digital Markets Acts (DSA/DMA), two landmark pieces of legislation that have been recently adopted in the EU to keep the Internet safe, protect fundamental rights and enhance competition in digital markets.   Monsieur de Graaf is from The Netherlands. He studied Economic Geography and Regional Planning (cum laude) at the Free University in Amsterdam and European Economics and Law (magna cum laude) at the Catholic University Leuven (Belgium).

The office will work under the authority of the EU Delegation in Washington, DC, in close coordination with Headquarters in Brussels and in partnership with EU Member States consulates in the San Francisco Bay Area. It will be headed by Gerard de Graaf, a senior Commission official who has worked extensively on digital policies, most recently on the EU’s landmark new platform laws, the Digital Services Act and Digital Markets Act. The office will initially be co-located with the Irish Consulate near downtown San Francisco.