The Lord Balfe of Dulwich is an active member of the House of Lords accepting the Conservative Party whip, prior to this he was one of the UK representatives on the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC). He is Chairman of the European Parliament Members Pension Fund, a fully invested scheme based in Luxembourg with its main office in the European Parliament in Brussels. He is also one of the two specialist external Directors on the Geneva based CERN Pension Fund Governing Board. As a Euro MP from 1979 to 2004 he took a particular interest in Foreign Affairs and in Turkey's application for EU Membership. He has a detailed knowledge of Turkey and its political life built up over 20 years of membership of the EP-Turkey joint Parliamentary Committee and frequent visits since he left office in the Parliament.