Sir Julian Priestley (1950-2017), Secretary General of the European Parliament, 1997-2007: A case study of a consequential senior European Union civil servant

Abstract

Despite a growing body of academic literature about the European Union’s public administration, there is a dearth of studies about the most senior managers in the institutions, the Secretaries-General. Consideration of the rich life of the late Sir Julian Priestley, an influential Secretary-General (SG) of the European Parliament, 1997-2007, demonstrates not only how Secretaries-General can be interesting subjects of study in their own right, but also how such SGs can, through the decisions they take and the policies they champion, be consequential for their institutions.