Pope welcomes new EU ambassador to Holy See

(February 06, 2012) Pope Benedict XVI on Monday welcomed the new Head of Delegation of the European Union to the Holy See, Ambassador Laurence Argimont-Pistre. At a formal ceremony in the Vatican the Pope accepted the letters of credence from the 59-year old wife and mother of three children. Argimont-Pistre is also the head of EU’s delegation to the Order of Malta and to the United Nations organisations in Rome. Before her latest appointment she was EU’s Permanent Representative to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the UN’s Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in Paris. After obtaining a degree in European and International Law from the University of Grenoble, France, in 1975, Argimon-Pistre joined the European civil service at the European Commission in 1978, and worked in various sectors dealing with trade. From 1991 to 1995, she was a visiting professor of international trade policy at the Independent University of Barcelona, Spain. From 1995 onwards she was engaged with EU’s relations with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM), and was later appointed Head of the Indian, Nepal, and Bhutan Unit. Argimont-Pistre takes over from Gazzo Yves as EU ambassador to the Holy See.