Portrait of Sir Philip Lowe

Sir Philip Lowe : Partner

Sir Philip Lowe has had a distinguished career in business and government, holding the senior positions of Director-General for Competition and for Energy at the European Commission.

Sir Philip began his career in the manufacturing industry before moving to the Commission in the early 1970s, where he was Chef de Cabinet and Director in the fields of regional development, agriculture, transport and administration, before becoming Director-General for Development in 1997. From September 2002 to February 2010, he was Director-General for Competition, and from then until January 2014, Director-General for Energy. From 2013 to 2016, Sir Philip served as a non-executive Board Member of the UK Competition and Markets Authority. Since 2016 and until joining Oxera, he was a Senior Adviser with FTI Consulting. He has been Chair of the EU Competition Law and Policy workshop at the European University Institute since 2010, and since 2016 he has been Executive Chair of the World Energy Council’s Energy Trilemma initiative.

Since joining Oxera in July 2018, Sir Philip has been working alongside the senior teams in Oxera’s Competition, Regulation, and Finance & Valuation practices to advise clients, lawyers, regulators and policymakers, bringing his vast experience to bear to drive best practice in all matters relating to regulation, competition and finance.

Sir Philip was knighted KCMG in 2014.

Philip speaks English, French, and German.

Tel: +32 (0) 2 793 07 00

Philip's specialisms include:

Selected
professional experience

  • Executive Chair, World Energy Council’s Energy Trilemma Flagship Study Programme (2016–)

  • Chair, European University Institute EU Competition Law and Policy Workshop (2010–)

  • Trustee, Centre for European Reform, London

  • Trustee, Friends of Europe, Brussels

  • Chef de Cabinet to Bruce Millan, European Commissioner for Regional Policy (1989–91)

  • Director for Rural Development, Directorate-General for Agriculture (1991–93)

Selected
publications

  • Lowe, P. (2016), ‘Brexit: Define the moment before it defines us’, Europe’s World, June.

  • Lowe, P. (2017), ‘Brexit and Energy: Time to Make Some Hard Choices’, policy document, Centre for European Reform, November.

Qualifications

  • MA Politics, Philosophy and Economics, University of Oxford, UK

  • MSc (now an MBA), London Business School, UK

Latest Insights:  Sir Philip Lowe

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The UN Climate Conference, COP26, provides the perfect backdrop for our latest episode of the Agenda podcast. Many countries around the world are signing up to targets aimed at achieving…
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At a time when confinement—strict, and soon perhaps even stricter—is still the order of the day in most countries, it is certainly premature to start drawing lessons and conclusions from…
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At the time of writing this note, the health crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic has severely affected a number of EU Member States. In addition to the severe impact…
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The economic and political environment in which competition law is enforced and applied has changed extensively over the last decade. Globalisation and a renewed focus on industrial policy have generated…

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