David Elliott (diplomat)

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David Murray Elliott, KCMG, CB, (8 February 1930 - 10 February 2023) was a British diplomat widely known as one of the founding fathers of the European Single Market. [1] [2]

Contents

Early life

Elliott was born in Lewisham, South London [2] and educated at Bishopshalt Grammar School and the London School of Economics, where he was a Kitchener Scholar. During his time at the LSE he was approached by MI5 but turned the offer down. [1]

Early career

After completion of his national service in the Royal Air Force, in 1954 Elliott joined the Civil Service, initially within the Post Office, and then during the 1960s and 70s moving through various roles in the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications. Following a posting between 1975 and 1978 to the UK embassy to Brussels while on secondment to the Diplomatic Service, he was appointed to a senior role as an Undersecretary within the European Secretariat of the Cabinet Office. [1] [3]

Later career

In 1982, Elliott was appointed the UK’s Minister and Deputy Permanent Representative to Europe, a post he held until 1991. [1] [4] [5] From 1986 to 1990, he and his boss, the Permanent Representative Sir David Hannay, successfully represented the UK in its negotiations with its European Treaty partners on the technical development, implementation, and workings of the European Single Market. [1] [6] In 1991, Elliott was appointed to a senior post within the European Institutions as Director General (Internal Market) in the Council Secretariat, with responsibility for the administrative aspects of implementing the Council’s plans around the operation and expansion of the single market and free-trade across the European Community. [1] [7]

Honours

Elliott was appointed a Companion of the Bath in the Queen's Birthday Honours of 1987, [8] and was advanced to Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George in the Queen's Birthday Honours of 1995. [9]

Retirement

Following his retirement in 1995, Elliott was until 2001 a Board member of the international aid charity CARE, [10] and was involved in the pre-accession preparations of six European nations which had applied to join the EU: Hungary, the Czech Republic, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, and Slovenia. [1]

Assessment

The Times' obituary of 10 March 2023 noted that from humble beginnings Elliott quickly came to the notice of the Foreign Office through his work ethic, quick mastery of technical detail and negotiating prowess, ending up as one of the founding fathers of the European Single Market. [1]

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References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "Sir David Elliott obituary". August 27, 2023 – via www.thetimes.co.uk.
  2. 1 2 "Last Word - Judith Heumann, Brian Tufano, Sir David Elliott KCMG, Elizabeth Foulkes - BBC Sounds". www.bbc.co.uk.
  3. ↑ The Road to Maastricht: Negotiating Economic and Monetary Union by Kenneth H. F. Dyson, Kevin Featherstone, page 584
  4. ↑ Archive of European Integration - A Guide to the Council of the European Communities 1984 - page 28
  5. ↑ The National Co-ordination of EU Policy: The European Level, Hussein Kassim (ed.) et al. Oxford University Press, 2001. Online ISBN   9780191601545
  6. ↑ UK in a changing Europe research paper - The UK permanent representation to the EU, page 17
  7. ↑ Biographical details of the Senior European Experts Group - 11 February 2013 submission to UK Government, Annex
  8. ↑ "Supplement to the London Gazette 13 June 1987" (PDF).
  9. ↑ "Supplement to the London Gazette 17 June 1995" (PDF).
  10. ↑ Companies House personal appointments
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