Julian King

Julian King
Julian King ; (diplomat);
Born	22 August 1964
Nationality	British
Alma mater	St Peter's College (Oxford), École nationale d'administration
Spouse	Lotte Knudsen
Party	Independent
	European Commissioner for the Security Union
In office
	19 September 2016 - 30 November 2019
	British Ambassador to France
In office
	January 2016 - 19 September 2016
Preceded by	Peter Ricketts
	British Ambassador to Ireland
In office
	2009 - 2012

Sir Julian Beresford King is a British diplomat and civil servant who served as European Commissioner for the Security Union from 2016 to 2019, having previously served as the British ambassador to Ireland (2009–2012) and France (2016).

Biography

King attended Bishop Vesey's Grammar School, one of the oldest schools in Britain, in Sutton Coldfield.^[1] He gained a BA in Philosophy and Theology from St Peter's College, Oxford.^[2] He also studied at the École nationale d'administration in Paris where he met his future wife. He joined the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in 1985.

After the resignation of Jonathan Hill as the British European Commissioner and European Commissioner for Financial Stability, Financial Services and Capital Markets Union in the aftermath of the Brexit referendum, Prime Minister David Cameron nominated King to replace him. On 2 August 2016, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker announced his intention to allocate the new portfolio of Security Union to King.^[3]^[4] King would work under the supervision of First Vice-President Frans Timmermans.^[5]^[6] The European Parliament confirmed his appointment on 15 September 2016,^[7] and the Council of the European Union did so on 19 September 2016.^[8]^[9] With the United Kingdom's withdrawal from the European Union on 31 January 2020, he was the last British official to hold a position and portfolio within the European Commission.

1985–1987 Foreign office in London
1987–1988 École nationale d'administration
1989–1990 Private Secretary to the British Ambassador (Sir Ewen Fergusson) in Paris
1991–1992 worked on European common foreign and security policy (CFSP) in Luxembourg, the Hague, Lisbon then London
1993–1995 London, working on European defence and NATO issues
1998–2002 Brussels, working on relations with Turkey, European defence, CFSP and EU enlargement
2003–2004 Counsellor and Head of Chancery at UK mission to the United Nations in New York City (covering UN Security Council business in the period after the Iraq War)
2004–2007 UK Permanent Representative to the EU Political and Security Committee in Brussels, covering common foreign and security policy (CFSP).
2005 Chaired the EU Political and Security Committee during the UK presidency
2008–2009 Head of the office of the British Commissioner in Brussels (Peter Mandelson then Baroness Ashton). Represented the EU27 on international trade matters, including negotiations on the WTO Doha Round.
2009–2011 British Ambassador to Ireland. Organised the State Visit to Ireland by Queen Elizabeth in May 2011.
2011–2014 Director-General of the Northern Ireland Office
2014–2015 Director-General Economic & Consular Affairs, Foreign and Commonwealth Office
2016-2016 British Ambassador to France
2016–2019 European Commissioner for the Security Union