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Gerard de Graaf has been First Secretary for trade matters at the Washington Delegation of the European Commission since June 1997. Prior to that, he was the private assistant to the Director-General for the Internal Market and Financial Services from 1994 to 1997. During this period, he was closely involved in the formulation of the EU’s E-Commerce policy, which culminated in the European Commission’s April 1997 Communication "A European Initiative in Electronic Commerce". His portfolio at the Washington Delegation includes electronic commerce and data privacy (particularly the ongoing EU-US "safe harbor" negotiations), financial services, and government procurement.