The secretary-general of the Western European Union was the head of the Western European Union (WEU), a Cold War era European defence and collective security organisation, which was dissolved in 2011.[1]
In 1999, it was agreed that the holder of the newly created post of High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy of the European Union should also be the secretary-general of the WEU. This was then Javier Solana; however, following a reconfiguration of the high representative post, Solana's successor Catherine Ashton was never appointed Secretary-General, and an acting secretary-general fulfilled the role until the WEU's dissolution in 2011.
| Name | Country | Years | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Louis Goffin | 1955–1962 | ||
| Maurice Iweins d'Eeckhoutte | 1962–1970 | ||
| Georges Heisbourg | 1971–1974 | ||
| Friedrich-Karl von Plehwe | 1974–1977 | ||
| Edouard Longerstaey | 1977–1985 | ||
| Alfred Cahen | 1985–1989 | ||
| Wim van Eekelen | 1989–1994 | ||
| José Cutileiro | 1994–1999 | ||
| Javier Solana | 1999–2009 | ||
| Arnaud Jacomet | 2009–2011 |