Alexandre Adam’s move to the cabinet of European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in 2024 came with a striking change of scenery.
In a previous role as European affairs adviser to French President Emmanuel Macron, Adam worked out of Paris’ Hôtel de Hirsch, where visitors were greeted by postcard views of the Champs Élysées gardens, and glimpses of the steel-and-glass Grand Palais museum.
Now, as von der Leyen’s deputy head of cabinet, his office is on the top floor of the European Commission’s headquarters, overlooking Rue de la Loi, the traffic-choked spine of Brussels’ EU quarter. The grey façade of the Commission’s Berlaymont building and the sober exteriors of the European Council buildings define the view.
But if Brussels lacks Parisian charm, it brought the 45-year-old career diplomat a different kind of perk: a prime seat in the cockpit of EU power.
Renowned as a skilled diplomat, meticulous technician, and strategist, Adam is threading the needle on how to remain one of France’s key influencers in Brussels while also finding his place within the wider bureaucratic machine of the EU executive.
A risky bet
Adam’s appointment as von der Leyen’s second-in-command was seen as a strategic move for Macron, at a time when his liberal political family was losing ground to far-right forces at both the national and EU level.
Upon his arrival in Brussels, however, Adam ran into a twofold challenge. A lifelong French civil servant, he had mostly an outsider’s grasp of the inner workings of the Commission’s powerful executive machine.
He was also stepping into a power void. The post had been effectively hollowed out by the departure, nearly two years earlier, of fellow Frenchwoman Stéphanie Riso. Her responsibilities had since been absorbed — in all but name — by Adam’s boss: von der Leyen’s longtime confidant and powerful chief of staff, Björn Seibert.
As deputy chief of staff, Adam is formally empowered to lead on specific files and to act on Seibert’s behalf. On paper, the two share responsibility for coordinating the work of the cabinet experts who advise von der Leyen.
In practice, power is tightly held at the top. Since the start of von der Leyen’s second mandate, she and Seibert —who served as her chief of cabinet when she was German defence minister — have operated as an impenetrable duo, overseeing what insiders described as an unprecedented centralisation of power within the EU executive.
According to one former French minister for Europe, Adam was walking into a “hellish” job.
“No one besides Björn really carries any weight” in the cabinet, a Commission official said, describing the German civil servant as von der Leyen’s “most trusted confidant.”
‘Not too French’
Still, the Frenchman has a few cards up his sleeve. While English is Brussels’ working language, Adam is fluent in German — an asset not only with his two superiors, but also with the many Germans who dominate the Commission’s senior ranks.
He’s also not entirely new to von der Leyen’s orbit, having worked in her proximity during his time as a close adviser to Macron.
Several officials Contexte spoke to, requesting anonymity, pointed to another advantage: Adam’s demeanour. “He's not too French,” as one senior official put it.
Where Parisian officials in Brussels are seen as rigid and status-conscious, Adam is described as friendly and approachable. Colleagues say he lightens dinners with his caustic humour and quickly drops the formal French form of address — a small but telling cultural shift in Belgium’s more informal setting.
That accessibility matters. A diplomat from a small EU country said Adam was easier to reach — and easier to talk to on the phone — than Seibert, making him a more approachable entry point into von der Leyen’s cabinet.
Before taking up his post, Adam also secured control over dossiers firmly in his wheelhouse. He leads on enlargement, Ukraine and relationships with Switzerland and the United Kingdom. His predecessor, Riso, also encouraged him to take on the multiannual financial framework (MFF) — the EU’s seven-year budget — with negotiations for the 2028-2035 cycle now underway. He also closely follows defence issues.
His title also grants him access to the Commission’s two main power hubs: the Monday meeting of chiefs of staff and the Wednesday meeting of commissioners.
Part of Adam’s informal mandate is to ensure that French priorities — if not always decisive — are at least heard within the EU executive. It doesn’t mean Paris emerges as a winner on all issues: take the Mercosur trade agreement with Latin America, which von der Leyen is trying to push over the finish line despite France’s opposition.
Balancing act
For Adam, the art lies in reconciling loyalty to von der Leyen, his boss, and fidelity to Macron.
A Macron loyalist since the 2017 launch of the president’s liberal Renaissance party (then known as En Marche!), Adam is widely seen as the French leader’s man in Brussels. After Macron’s election, Adam helped draft his landmark Sorbonne speech on Europe. Ahead of the 2024 EU elections, he also helped shape the Renaissance party’s electoral programme.
A native Alsatian, Adam was never too far removed from Brussels. He grew up in Strasbourg, the French region’s capital and home to the European Parliament’s official seat. A graduate of the elite College of Europe in Bruges — a known incubator of EU civil servants and policy professionals — he worked in France’s permanent representation to the EU and at France’s embassy in Berlin before joining the Élysée presidential palace in 2017.
While he maintains links with France’s EU delegation — stopping by during European Council summits as leaders meet behind closed doors — observers say he has struck the right balance.
Speaking to Adam was no different than “speaking to Björn [Seibert],” said a high-ranking EU diplomat, adding that the Frenchman has aligned himself seamlessly with von der Leyen’s priorities.
Clouds on the horizon?
A trained legal expert, Adam built a reputation as a highly technical and meticulous operator. Others describe a strategist with a keen focus on the Balkans and Central Europe with an ambitious vision for EU expansion.
During France’s 2022 presidency of the Council of the EU, Adam was key to Paris’ efforts to coordinate Europe’s response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
He is also a main architect of the European Political Community, a biannual meeting of European governments launched the same year to foster dialogue beyond the EU’s borders.
As the von der Leyen Commission enters its second year in power, there is no shortage of files for Adam. Member states have signalled wanting to turbo-charge negotiations on the MFF, while London and Brussels are working to revive cooperation shelved by Brexit.
Onlookers say they can picture Adam as a great ambassador in the future, with many diplomats imagining he may one day head France’s representation to the EU — one of the most prestigious roles for a French civil servant. “He would be very good at it,” said an official close to him.
His current role is meant to run until 2029, but the rise of the far-right in his native France — with the next presidential election looming in 2027 — hangs over Adam’s professional trajectory.
A far-right victory would make it hard to imagine a Macron loyalist serving a government so opposed to the liberal European vision he champions.
Edited by Anca Gurzu