Very sad news came in today of the sudden and completely unexpected death of Sukhdev Sharma, a much-loved and respected member of the European Economic and Social Committee (UK/Various Interests Group). ‘Dev’ as he was universally known, was a distinguished former chief executive of the British Commission for Racial Equality (he was awarded a CBE in 1998 for services to the community). He had since served as Chairman or member of the boards of various health authorities. At the time of his death he was Chairman of Calderdale and Huddersfield NHS Foundation Trust, a position he had held since October 2007.  He became a member of the European Economic and Social Committee in 1998 and had served with distinction as a rapporteur on such themes as equality, anti-discrimination, migration and human rights issues. He was chair of the Migration Policy Group, a Brussels-based think tank, a lay member of the (UK) Employment Tribunal, and a board member of the Shaw Trust charity, the largest provider of vocational and job training to disabled and disadvantaged people. Dev was, quite simply, a lovely man. There wasn’t a bad bone in his body. The Committee – its members and its staff – is in shock and our thoughts and sympathies go out to his wife and four children. It was a pleasure and an immense privilege to have worked with him. His untimely death is a grievous loss.