PULLMAN, Wash. — European Commission official Peter Hobbing will discuss
“The European Union: Latest Developments in Justice Matters” during an
address at Washington State University on Thursday, April 20. The 10:30 a.m.
public talk is set for the Compton Union Building, Rooms B11-15.
Hobbing, head of the Directorate General on Justice and Home Affairs’ Police
and Customs Cooperation Unit, is now stationed in Brussels, Belgium. He
previously was assistant to the Director General of the Task Force on Justice
and Home Affairs. He has served as chief negotiator for the European
Commission on transnational drug and crime control agreements between the
European Union and Central and Latin American countries and, more recently,
between the Union and Central and Eastern European countries seeking
admission into the European Union.
Born in Heidelberg, Germany, Hobbing studied law at Heidelberg and Freiburg
universities. He specialized in international criminal law and, while working for
Max-Planck research foundation in Germany and Brazil, completed his law
degree. His studies centered on drug legislation in South America and Europe.
He began his career in the German civil service and headed a surveillance unit
at the East German border. He gained an understanding of efforts to protect
the EU’s external border against drug trafficking and organized crime while
working for the EC Customs Service.
He has wide experience in international relations, having represented the EU at
United Nations and Organization of American State negotiations, and has
worked extensively with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. He has
also been involved in preparing Eastern European countries to join the EU by
developing standards in the field of enforcement and internal security.
Two years ago, Hobbing was a visiting professor of European Studies at the
Henry M. Jackson School of International Studies at the University of
Washington, where he concentrated his studies on border control problems by
comparing NAFTA and EU border issues.
Hobbing’s lecture is sponsored by WSU’s Thomas S. Foley Institute of Public
Policy and Public Service and the department of political science and criminal
justice.
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