Henne Schuwer

Henne is Director CPDS Europe

After a career of forty one years with the Netherlands Foreign Service, he retired in September 2019. He started his overseas career in Hanoi, and finished as Ambassador in Washington. In between he focused on Europe and the US. Henne and his family spent 17 years in Brussels, when he was Deputy Permanent Representative of Netherlands to the EU, Ambassador to Belgium, and at NATO, as Chief of Staff of the Secretary General.

He also spent 12 years in the US, in Los Angeles and two postings in Washington, the last one as Ambassador from 2015 to 2019.

Henne spent the better part of his career negotiating. He contributed to four Dutch EU Presidencies in 1986, 1991 (the Treaty of Maastricht), 1997 (the Treaty of Amsterdam) and 2004. His time at NATO, as principal advisor to the Secretary General, brought him from the White House to the Kremlin and from Baghdad to Kabul, and showed him that negotiating is an art with many different faces.

After his retirement, Henne and his wife returned to Brussels, a city where they had lived for the better part of their married life and consider home more than anywhere else in the world.

Henne joined CPDS in October 2019 as Director Europe. His goal is to enlarge the scope of CPDS in Europe, drawing on his network to recruit new tutors and pass on his knowledge and experience, concentrating on the unique project of the EU and the transatlantic relations. Apart from the theory, he has many stories to tell from faraway places and late night meetings in Brussels and Washington.

Henne enjoys reading  about European history of the 20^th century, playing tennis and golf and swimming in the sea, even when it is pretty cold.