Willy Clarisse Elvire Hector, Viscount De Clercq (8 July 1927 – 28 October 2011)[1] was a Belgian liberal politician.

[2] After his law and notariat studies at the University of Ghent and a scholarship at Syracuse University (Syracuse, United States), De Clerq became a lawyer at the Court of appeal in Ghent and a professor at Ghent University and the Vrije Universiteit Brussel.

De Clercq served in various coalition governments.

He served for a term as a member of the European Commission (1985–1989).

In 2003, he created together with other prominent European personalities the Medbridge Strategy Center, whose goal is to promote dialogue and mutual understanding between Europe and the Middle-East.