Reinhard Priebe was born in Lübeck, Germany. After completing his law degree in 1972, he served as a Judge at the Administrative Court in Stuttgart (1977-1979) and was the Assistant at the Federal Constitutional Court (1979-1983). The following year he joined the European Commission as Directorate General for Agriculture, where he served in the unit "Agricultural law" (1984-1991); Assistant to the Deputy Director General (1991-1993); Head of the unit "Measures of objective 5a of Structural Funds, agro-environmental and early retirement schemes" (1993-1997); and Head of the unit for "Agricultural law" (1997-2001). From 2001 to 2006, he was the Director for the "Western Balkans" in the Directorate General for External Relations and Enlargement. From 2006 to 2008, he was Director for "Conservation Policy" in the Directorate General for Fisheries and Maritime Affairs. Since 2008, he has been the Director for the "Atlantic, Outermost Regions and Arctic" in the Directorate General for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries.