Latest from Carmen:
Trump’s Return: A Second Wake-Up Call for European Strategic Autonomy?
Areas of Expertise:
Carmen Bell, an accomplished EU advocacy and consulting expert, joined APCO as the managing director of the Brussels office in 2024. Carmen brings over 15 years of experience in advising clients on critical policy and regulatory issues within the European Union. Her strategic advisory expertise covers European public affairs, regulatory developments and legislative initiatives in the digital, sustainability and financial sectors, particularly in areas such as online platform regulation, cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, financial services and fintech, climate action, ESG and corporate due diligence practices. She also has extensive experience counselling clients on EU geopolitical relations with strategic markets such as the UK, United States, China and India.
True change happens when passion meets strategy—when consulting is not just about advice, but about driving the policies that shape a better future.
Carmen maintains a deep understanding of the European business environment and has a proven track record in executing pan-European policy and communications campaigns, as well as client coalition building and management. Before joining APCO, Carmen held significant leadership roles, including as Senior Partner Europe for strategic agency Portland and as Director with Hill+Knowlton Belgium. Prior to this, she led the Brussels practice expansion and growth for advisory firm Global Counsel as its EU Practice Lead. For several years she was also senior policy advisor for the European trade body Insurance Europe, where she represented the association in several EU-level working groups and managed its strategic communications campaign for the 2015 UN Paris Agreement on Climate Change.
Formerly a practicing United States attorney with international law firm Reed Smith, Carmen holds a B.A. from the University of Virginia, a J.D. from Villanova Law School and an LL.M. in International Business Law from the University of London, Queen Mary. She further studied European Law at the University of Leuven. Carmen is listed in the Best in Brussels consultants list and is a Member of the Board with the British Chamber of Commerce EU & Belgium.