Tomas Baert has been a member of cabinet of European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen since September 2022. As President von der Leyen’s trade advisor, Tomas supports the Commission’s work on trade policy, economic security, and international competitiveness. He is responsible for advancing and concluding major EU trade negotiations, including with Mercosur, Mexico, and India, and for shaping the EU’s trade relations with both the United States and China.
From 2018 to 2022, Tomas served in Washington, DC, leading the Trade, Agriculture, and Digital Economy team at the EU Delegation to the United States. Prior to this posting, he headed the Trade Strategy unit in DG Trade, where he was responsible for the EU’s Trade for All strategy. From 2014 to 2016, Tomas was an assistant to the Director-General for Trade, advising on multilateral and EU-U.S. trade negotiations.
From 2010 to 2014, Tomas was posted in Geneva, where he represented the EU at the World Trade Organization and the World Intellectual Property Organization.
Tomas joined the European Commission in 2005 as a trade negotiator specialising in services trade and investment. In 2009, he led the coordination of the EU’s new
investment policy following the Union's acquisition of exclusive competence over foreign direct investment under the Lisbon Treaty.
Tomas holds an MSc from the London School of Economics and an MA from KU Leuven. He spent a term at the Graduate Institute in Geneva and completed the Mastering Trade Policy programme at Harvard Kennedy School.