Former Director of International Affairs, European Commission DG AGRI. Senior EU trade negotiator. Former Head of the EU Delegation to the WTO and UN in Geneva. Thirty years an EU trade negotiator and designer of trade policy.
Earlier, as an official of the Hong Kong Government between 1983 and 1993 was in the team charged with bringing HK to developed country status in the 1990’s.
Involved in WTO/GATT and bilateral trade affairs for 35 years (was in HK’s negotiating team in the Uruguay Round). Was also HK’s deputy ambassador to the EEC, in charge of trade relations 1992-93.
John Clarke has negotiated around 60 international agreements for the EU and for HK, ranging from the Trade Facilitation Agreement in the WTO, Ukraine’s WTO accession, the agricultural and GI chapters in several of the EU’s Economic Partnership Agreements with African regions, China poultry and GI Agreements, US beef agreements, EU-10 enlargement, Free Trade Agreements with Morocco, Japan, Mexico, Vietnam, India, Mercosur, South Africa, ESA, Chile, Mexico etc; HK-EU textiles and clothing bilateral agreement etc.
John Clarke retired from the European Commission at the end of 2023. His current positions include:
- Fellow at the University of Maastricht – Institute for Globalisation and International Regulation
- Lecturer at Xi’an, Delhi, Lausanne, Nice, Paris SciencesPo, and London Universities.
- Fellow of the British Institute of International and Comparative Law
- Editorial Board Member, Journal of International Trade Law and Regulation (Thomson Reuters).
- Commissioner, UK Trade and Business Commission.
- Vice President of the Europe-China Economic and Development Council
- Fellow of the Royal Asiatic Society and the Club Diplomatique Belge.
- Member of the Friends of Multilateralism Think Tank (Geneva).
- Committee Member, The Travellers Club of London.
Chinese, French and Spanish speaker. Regular conferencier and panel speaker in all continents on trade, agriculture and economic security issues. Articles on trade, agriculture, cultural and political issues published in inter alia the Financial Times, London Review of Books, Modern Diplomacy, South China Morning Post, Spectator, Poetry Review, Fontana Biography of Modern Thought, Dictionary of Literary Biography USA, Poetry Review, International Journal of Trade Law and Regulation, Euronews, Byline Times, BorderLex, FOCUS Delhi, EurActiv, Tribune of India, Chinese Intellectual Property News, The UN Brief.
Linkedin: John Alistair Clarke