He was appointed by the European Commission on 12. April 2017, following a 6-year appointment as Director for Fundamental Rights and Citizen’s Rights in the same Directorate General.
As Director, Nemitz led the reform of Data Protection legislation in the EU, the negotiations of the EU – US Privacy Shield and the negotiations with major US Internet Companies of the EU Code of Conduct against incitement to violence and hate speech on the Internet.
Before joining the Directorate General for Justice and Consumers, Nemitz held posts in the Legal Service of the European Commission, the Cabinet of the Commissioner for Development Cooperation and in the Directorates General for Trade, Transport and Maritime Affairs.
Nemitz has represented the European Commission in numerous cases before the European Court of Justice and has published widely on EU law.
He is a visiting Professor of Law at the College of Europe in Bruges; Member of the Board of the Verein Gegen Vergessen – Für Demokratie e.V., Berlin; Trustee of the Leo Baeck Institute, New York; Member of the Board of the Association for Accountability and Internet Democracy, AAID, Paris; Member of the Scientific Council of the Foundation for European Progressive Studies, Brussels. He is also a member of the Tönissteiner Kreis e.V., Berlin, the Commission for Media and Internet policy of the SPD, Berlin; the German Association for European Law and the Arbeitskreis Europäische Integration, Heidelberg.
Nemitz studied Law at Hamburg University. He passed the state examinations for the judiciary and for a short time was a teaching assistant for Constitutional Law and the Law of the Sea at Hamburg University.
He obtained a Master of Comparative Law from George Washington University Law School in Washington, D.C., where he was a Fulbright grantee. He also passed the first and second cycle of the Strasbourg Faculty for Comparative Law.