Guus Houttuin is a lawyer and an advisor to governments and NGOs on international trade, and legal and corporate issues. He sits on the board of NGO IMPACT – CANADA. He trained as a lawyer and specialised in international law at the Europa Institute of the University of Amsterdam. After joining the EU’s Council Secretariat, he served as Legal Adviser for international negotiations and as Legal Counsel representing the EU before the European Court of Justice. As EU ambassador in Geneva, he was deeply involved in the WTO’s Doha Round of trade negotiations and in emerging issues such as sustainable development. Back at the EU’s headquarters in Brussels, Guus was in charge of all trade, economic and corporate issues at the EU Diplomatic Service. He was responsible for a large number of highly sensitive files, such as trade preferences and their conditionality, corporate sustainability and due diligence, responsible minerals, including as chair of the OECD steering group on the issue.     

Guus Houttuin has thought at the European Institute of Public Administration in Maastricht, and at the Deutsche Richterakademie. He has been involved in pre-accession training in countries preparing for their joining the European Union.