About the Special Envoy for EU Affairs

U.S. Special Envoy for EU Affairs C. Boyden Gray

C. Boyden Gray, of the District of Columbia, was appointed Special Envoy for European Union Affairs by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on January 11, 2008. The White House announced on March 31 that he would also serve as Special Envoy for Eurasian Energy.

Prior to his appointment as Special Envoy, Mr. Gray served as U.S. Representative to the European Union in Brussels from 2006 to 2007. From 1969 to 1981 and 1993 to 2005, Mr. Gray was a partner in the Wilmer, Cutler, Pickering, Hale and Dorr law firm in Washington. He was White House Counsel in the administration of President George H.W. Bush (1989-1993) and earlier served as Legal Counsel to Vice President Bush (1981-1989).

Mr. Gray was born in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. He earned his Bachelor’s degree magna cum laude from Harvard University and his Juris Doctor (J.D.) with high honors from the Law School of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he was editor-in-chief of the Law Review. Following his graduation from university, he served in the U.S. Marine Corps. After law school, he clerked for Earl Warren, Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court (1968-69.

At the law firm of Wilmer, Cutler, Pickering, Hale and Dorr, his practice focused on a range of regulatory matters, with emphasis on environment, energy, antitrust, public health, and information technology. Mr. Gray served as counsel to the Presidential Task Force on Regulatory Relief during the Reagan Administration. While working as White House Counsel, he was one of the principal architects of the 1991 Clean Air Act Amendments. He served as chairman of the Administrative Law and Regulatory Practice of the American Bar Association 2000-2002.

Mr. Gray has served on the boards of numerous charitable, educational, and professional organizations. For Harvard University, he has been a member of the Committee to Visit the College and of the Committee on University Development. He is the recipient of the Presidential Citizens Medal and the Distinguished Alumnus Award of the University of North Carolina Law School.

Speeches, Statements & Other Information (USEU Photo Gallery)

President Bush announced January 11, 2008, that C. Boyden Gray will serve as Special Envoy for European Union Affairs. Gray served with distinction as the United States Ambassador to the European Union from January 2006 until his appointment expired on December 31, 2007. As Special Envoy, Gray will focus on a number of issues and special projects, as directed by the President and the Secretary of State. These will include strengthening the Transatlantic Economic Council, which he played a key role in developing and which is now a premier economic forum dedicated to deepening the U.S.-EU economic relationship; promoting European understanding of the Administration's climate change policies and assuring effective implementation of the numerous joint U.S.-EU cooperative actions to advance technology and reduce greenhouse gases; and working on selected energy security issues.

• Kristen Silverberg Nominated as U.S. Representative to the EU (Apr 24, 2008) (Statement at Senate Hearing, Jun 19, 2008))

• Special Envoy Gray Named Special Envoy for Eurasian Energy (Mar 31, 2008)

• Special Envoy Gray Discusses Major Economies Meeting on Climate Change (Feb 1, 2008)

• C. Boyden Gray Selected as Special Envoy for EU Affairs (Jan 11, 2008)

• OpEd: Trust America on Climate Change, published in the Financial Times (Sep 26, 2007)

• Ambassador Gray Discusses Transatlantic Cooperation, Challenges at College of Europe (Jul 12, 2007)

• Interview with European Parliament Website: "Relations Strong and Getting Better"  (Jul 4, 2007)

• Amb. Gray in Latvia on the U.S. approach to energy security and climate change (Jun 12, 2007)

• Amb. Gray in Europolitics: Europe Transformed by the Power of a Constructive Idea (Mar 16, 2007)

• Amb. Gray Discusses the Business Case for Biodiversity (Feb 22, 2007)

• Amb. Gray Discusses U.S.-EU Economic Issues after Bush, Barroso, Merkel Meetings (Jan 9, 2007)

• Op-ed on Coal, Corn and Competition: The Keys to Cooling Down, published in European Voice newspaper (Nov 2006)

• Chemical Reaction op-ed on REACH (Sep 6, 2006) (Reprinted with permission of The Wall Street Journal Europe, Copyright (c) 2006, Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved)

• Ask the Ambassador: An Online Discussion with Amb. Gray (Oct 20, 2006)

• Amb. Gray on the EU's REACH Chemicals Proposal (Jun 8, 2006)

• Amb. Gray Discusses U.S.-Europe Relations, Challenges in Aspen Institute France Speech (May 13, 2006)

• Amb. Gray at EPC Discusses U.S.-EU Cooperation on Better Regulation (May 11, 2006)

• Amb. Gray at U.S.-EU Seminar on Labor Mobility (Apr 6, 2006)

C. Boyden Gray, of the District of Columbia, was sworn in as the Representative of the United States of America to the European Union, with the Rank and Status of Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on January 20, 2006. He presented his credentials in Brussels to Austrian State Secretary for Foreign Affairs Dr. Hans Winkler, representing the EU Council Presidency, on February 27, and to European Commission President José Manuel Barroso on February 20.

• Amb. Gray Addresses Conference on Security, Terrorism (Feb 21, 2006)

• White House Personnel Announcement (Jan 17, 2006)

• Gray Statement as Prepared for Senate Hearing (Sep 20, 2005)

• Nominees as U.S. Envoys to EU, Holy See, Portugal Testify at Hearing (Sep 20, 2005)

• Transcript of C. Boyden Gray's Senate Hearing (Sep 19, 2005)

Below is an excerpt of the July 25, 2005, White House announcement:

The President intends to nominate C. Boyden Gray, of the District of Columbia, to be the Representative of the United States of America to the European Union, with the Rank and Status of Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary. Mr. Gray is currently a Partner with Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP in Washington, D.C. He previously served as White House Counsel. Prior to that, Mr. Gray served as Legal Counsel to the Vice President. Earlier in his career, he clerked for the Honorable Earl Warren, Chief Justice, United States Supreme Court. Mr. Gray received his bachelor's degree from Harvard University and his J.D. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Former U.S. Representatives to the European Union and its predecessors

1953-1956 David E. Bruce, U.S. Representative to the European Coal and Steel Community
1956-1962 Walton W. Butterworth, U.S. Representative to the ECSC, then to the European Communities
1962-1966 John W. Tuthill, U.S. Representative to the European Communities
1966-1972 J. Robert Schaetzel, U.S. Representative to the European Communities
1972-1976 Joseph A. Greenwald, U.S. Representative to the European Communities
1976-1979 Deane R. Hinton, U.S. Representative to the European Communities
1979-1981 Thomas O. Enders, U.S. Representative to the European Communities
1981-1985 George S. Vest, U.S. Representative to the European Communities
1985-1987 John W. Middendorf, U.S. Representative to the European Communities
1987-1989 Alfred F. Kingon, U.S. Representative to the European Communities
1989-1991 Thomas M. T. Niles, U.S. Representative to the European Communities
1991-1993 James F. Dobbins, U.S. Representative to the European Communities
1993-1996 Stuart E. Eizenstat, U.S. Representative to the European Union 
1996-1999 Vernon A. Weaver, U.S. Representative to the European Union
1999-2001 Richard L. Morningstar, U.S. Representative to the European Union
2001-2005 Rockwell A. Schnabel, U.S. Representative to the European Union