Anthony Gooch

Anthony Gooch is a member of the Expert Committee of RIE Democracy’s Task Force and a member of the Marten Centre’s Academic Council, a former Secretary General of the European Round Table for Industry (ERT) and a former Director of Public Affairs & Communications at the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

 From September 2024 to October 2026, Mr. Gooch was ERT Secretary General, during which time he worked with CEOs and Chairs of some of Europe’s most significant industrial companies in ERT’s Membership. He helped ERT drive the push for implementation of concrete measures to restore the competitiveness of European business and industry in a global context. These efforts were reflected in EU’s One Europe One Market Roadmap.

Prior to ERT, his time at the OECD began with the Global Financial Crisis and Recovery that included the organisation’s efforts to reform international tax standards to establish fairer tax systems to close down tax havens and ensure multinational companies pay their fair share of tax in the context of the digital economy (BEPS). He conceived the award-winning OECD’s Better Life Index to put citizens at the heart of efforts to improve the well-being and quality of life. He worked to promote OECD Education standards (PISA), work on Climate Change, the Digital Transformation & Artificial Intelligence & provided leadership in response to the Pandemic & the War in Ukraine, developing the OECD COVID Hub & transforming the OECD Economic Outlook. Identifying the challenge posed by “Post-Truth”, he led efforts to propose concrete actions for OECD to counter mis- and disinformation. He created the OECD Global Parliamentary Network, to engage key legislators worldwide, building an influential membership with important contributions to global tax reform & artificial intelligence & a strategic partnership with the European Parliament. As Director of the OECD Forum & OECD Forum Network community, he led efforts to engage stakeholders in public policy, attracting leading voices from all sectors to advance the international policy agenda from governments, legislatures, business, trade unions, civil society, foundations, and organisations representing women & youth, setting up OECD’s first youth advisory body “YouthWise”.

Prior to his 15-year experience at the OECD, he headed the European Commission’s Media and Public Diplomacy operations in the United Kingdom, promoting the EU’s major global policy initiatives on issues such as Climate Change.

Between 2003 to 2006, he was based in Washington DC, heading the Commission’s Media and Public Diplomacy operations in the United States, focusing on EU-US trade relations, competition cases such as Microsoft, EU global environmental and energy initiatives, bilateral negotiations on Open Skies and homeland security issues.

From 2002 to 2003, he was the EU’s Visiting Fellow to the University of Southern California Los Angeles Annenberg School, teaching and researching on globalization issues. He has been a Fellow of the USC Center for Public Diplomacy since 2005.

Between 1999 and 2002, he acted as the EU’s Trade Spokesman and special adviser to the EU’s then chief trade negotiator Commissioner Pascal Lamy, participating in WTO Ministerial Meetings in Seattle and launching the Doha Round, negotiating China’s WTO entry, Free Trade Agreements with Latin American and African countries, launching the Everything but Arms Initiative and work to improve access to lifesaving medicines for the world’s poorest countries.

From 1995 to 1999, he specialised in EU relations with Latin America, co-ordinating the EU negotiating team to secure a Global Agreement and FTA with Mexico. Prior to joining the European Commission he worked for a strategic EU public affairs consultancy and as a freelance journalist.

He has a Postgraduate degree (DEA) in Political Science & International Relations from the Institut d’Études Politiques de Paris and an MA in Modern History from Cambridge University.