Mrs. Benita Ferrero-Waldner is the European Commissioner for External Relations and European Neighborhood Policy. An Austrian diplomat and politician, she is a member of the Austrian People's Party (ÖVP), affiliated with the European People’s Party.
Born in Salzburg, she studied law, receiving a doctorate from the University of Salzburg in 1970. Until 1983 she worked in the private sector. She entered the diplomatic service in 1984. She was Chief of Protocol for Secretary General Boutros-Ghali at the United Nations in New York.
From 1995 until 2000 she served as Austrian State Secretary for Foreign Affairs. When Wolfgang Schlüssel became Chancellor of Austria early in 2000 he made Ms. Ferrero-Waldner his Minister for Foreign Affairs, a position she held until October 2004 when she entered the European Commission. www.ec.europa.eu/commission_barroso/ferrero-waldner/
