He finished his school studies in Thessaloniki and is a graduate since 1976 of the Economics Department of the School of Law and Economics of AUTH.
Masters at the universities of Kent in the United Kingdom (Management) and Leuven in Belgium (European Studies).
From 1980 to 1981 he practiced at the Commission of the European Communities in the tobacco sector of the Directorate General for Agriculture.
From 1982 to 1989 he was a scientific associate and permanent representative of PASEGES in the European institutions.
From 1989 to 2009 he worked at the European Commission, in the Directorate General for Agriculture where he was responsible for the expenditure control sector for the cereals, sugar and fruit and vegetable sectors (1989-1996), responsible for the olive oil and cotton sector (1996- 2003) and deputy head of the Unit dealing with rural development programs for Bulgaria, Greece, Ireland, Cyprus, the United Kingdom, Denmark, Lithuania and Poland.