Director-General, European Commission
Stephen Quest
- 2026
- Creative Bureaucracy Festival
Stephen Quest is the Director-General of the Directorate-General for Human Resources & Security as of 1 May 2024.
Prior to this, he was the Director-General of the Joint Research Centre (JRC) from 2020 to 2024, the Director-General of the Directorate-General for Taxation and Customs Union (TAXUD) from 2016 to 2020, and the Director-General for Informatics (DIGIT) between 2013 and 2016.
His career spans more than 30 years in the European civil service, and has included work on the EU budget, social and environmental policy. He was Head of Cabinet to the Commissioner for the EU Budget (D. Grybauskaitė) between 2004 and 2009. Prior to joining the European Commission, Stephen was a UK civil servant in the Department of Employment.
Stephen’s leadership is characterised by his continuous support for innovation and transformation and empowering and involving staff in decision-making.