You can now find a short summary of the Prague European Summit 2020 here. The long summary is going to be published on Summit's website in December, and so will photos and videos.

Some important data about the Prague European Summit 2020 include:

• 110+ speakers, 46% women, 54% men
• speakers from 30+ different countries
• 27 young leaders
• 34 different formats of discussions and side-events
• 800+ connected registered participants and thousands of viewers on social media
• More than 2 million unique Twitter impressions on #PragueSummit20 hashtag

We hope you enjoyed the Summit and will keep following it in the future. The preparations of the 2021 edition have already begun!

The second, last day of the Prague European Summit is here!

Full programme of the Summit

If you are not joining Prague European Summit 20, you can watch the full event, including the morning sessions, on our Facebook page.

DAY 2 SCHEDULE

• 8:00 – 12:00 Morning Live Stream
• 13:00 – 18:30 Afternoon Live Stream
• 14:30 – 16:35 Mirror Hall: Democracy in Decline: Can Europe lead a Renaissance of Multilateralism and Democracy? In cooperation with Forum 2000 (14:30 – 15:15), Break (15:15 – 15:35), Decarbonisation and Just Transition: Rethinking the EU’s Approach (15:35 – 16:35)

Both live streams will be available on our Facebook page. And You can follow live-tweeting on our @PragueSummit Twitter.

Moreover, at 6:30 PM, we will also broadcast the last of Urban Talks public debates on our Facebook – Companies and climate crisis – What can they really do?. The language of the Urban Talk debate is English and the simultaneous interpretation to Czech is provided. You may find both streamings here or in the Discussion section of the event.

Prague European Summit 2020 starts on Wednesday!

Full programme of the Summit

If you are not joining Prague European Summit 20, you can watch the full event, including the morning sessions, on our Facebook page.

DAY 1 SCHEDULE

• 8:00 – 13:00 Morning Live Stream
• 14:05 – 19:15 Afternoon Live Stream
• 17:25 – 18:25 Mirror Hall: EU Recovery Plan from the Visegrad Perspective

Both live streams will be available on our Facebook page. And You can follow live-tweeting on our @PragueSummit Twitter.

Moreover, at 6:30 PM, we will also broadcast another of Urban Talks public debates on our Facebook – Female leadership in EU's external relations and international agreements. The language of the Urban Talk debate is English and the simultaneous interpretation to Czech is provided. You may find both streamings here or in the Discussion section of the event.

If you are a journalist who wants to attend Prague European Summit, please send an e-mail to press@praguesummit.eu.

PRESS RELEASE (English)

PRESS RELEASE (Czech)

We invite you to four "Urban Talks" online debates organised as a part of the Prague European Summit 2020 in cooperation with Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung Prague.

The debates will broadcasted in English and with Czech translation on our Facebook page. Audience will be able to ask questions using the comments next to the live video.

The events are co-financed by the Europe for Citizens Programme.

17 November, 15:00–16:30, Satisfaction with democracy and EU across Europe

Confirmed speakers:

• Vít Havelka, Research Fellow, EUROPEUM Institute for European Policy
• Magda Vášáryová, Former Slovak State Secretary of Foreign Affairs, Diplomat
• Karolina Wigura, Historian and Sociologist, Kultura Liberalna

Moderator: Yasmeen Serhan, The Atlantic

Thirty years ago, a wave of optimism swept across Europe as walls and regimes fell, and long oppressed publics embraced open societies, open markets and a more united and integrated Europe.

How satisfied are Europeans with how democracy works three decades after the fall of communism? And how content are they with the EU, its institutions and policies? What are the issues they worry about when it comes to the functioning of democracy as well as of the EU? And are there substantive differences between western European and citizens of Central and Eastern Europe regarding attitudes towards democracy and the EU? Is there a common understanding of and support for cross border solidarity among European citizens? Or are there clear limits to European solidarity?

Facebook event

17 November, 18:00–19:30, Carbon-neutral EU as a global climate leader – Why it matters?

Confirmed speakers:

• Monika Figaj, Counsellor to the Minister, Ministry of Climate of Poland
• Florie Gonsolin, Manager for Energy and Climate, European Chemical Industry Council
• Felix Christian Matthes, Research Coordinator for Energy & Climate policy, Öko Institut
• Luděk Niedermayer, Vice-Chair, Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs, European Parliament

Moderator Markéta Boubínová, Brussels Correspondent, Deník N

The European Union is uniquely equipped to tackle climate change; its concentration of wealth, knowledge, trade and political soft power makes it able to mobilize political capital far beyond its own borders. Becoming a global climate leader could propel the EU into an overarching global leadership position in the future. However, the EU is currently not on track towards climate neutrality, nor can the EU claim the mantle of leadership for the foreseeable future when all its estimates are built around 2050 – at which point scientific consensus states that it will be too late. The V4 are particularly accountable for the lack of ambition to the detriment of all citizens both inside and outside the EU.

How can the EU strengthen its credibility in order to incentivize other higher emitters, such as China, to reduce emissions? How can the EU tackle the climate enfant terrible that is the V4 with regards to tackling climate change? What are the benefits of becoming a global climate leader both politically and societally?

Facebook event

18 November, 18:30–20:00, Female leadership in EU's external relations and international agreements

Confirmed speakers:

• Michaela Marksová-Tominová, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic
• Eleonora Tafuro Ambrosetti, Senior Researcher, ISPI Milano
• Velina Tchakarova, Head of the Austrian Institute for European and Security Policy

Moderator: Filip Nerad, Analyst, Czech Radio

One of the key priorities for the new European Commission in external relations is gender equality, the empowerment of girls and women and strengthening female participation, voice and leadership. The implementation period of the current EU's Gender Action Plan in development and external relations (GAP II) is coming to an end this year. This is a good time to take stock of what has been achieved and how to move forward.

How can the Commission services' and the European External Action Service's institutional culture to more effectively deliver on its commitments? What are examples of good practices of gender mainstreaming in external relations? How can EU Delegations contribute to gender equality worldwide? And are the EU's efforts in mainstreaming gender equality supported in societies and governments of third countries?

Facebook Event

19 November, 18:30–20:00, Companies and climate crisis – What can they really do?

Confirmed speakers:

• Linda Zeilina, CEO and Founder, International Sustainable Finance Center
• Zahide Senterzi, Executive Director, Greenpeace Czech Republic
• František Vašek, Nano Energies

Moderator: Žaneta Gregorová, Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung Prague

The scale and scope of the climate crisis requires mobilization in all parts of society, public and private sector alike. There are many ways the private sector can help reduce its carbon footprint. Some private companies have already stepped up and introduced climate-mitigating measures aiming at reducing the emissions emitted from their supply chains. While seemingly a sound measure, it can be susceptible to “greenwashing”, whereby the introduced measures have little to no impact on a company’s emissions yet the company continue to present itself as “green” in order to improve its attractiveness to its customers.

What constitutes corporate “greenwashing”, and how can we, as consumers, uncover these facades? What can companies really do in order to reduce their negative impact on the climate? What regulatory framework would help the private sector make systemic transitions to a more climate-friendly operation model? What does it take for sustainability and climate-consciousness to become a mainstream business model for companies?

Facebook event

Online participation at Prague European Summit 2020 is possible by invitation only and is subject to approval.

1. Click on the link below to access the registration form.
2. Fill out the registration form. You will receive a participation confirmation.
3. After the approval, you will receive further instructions including a link for joining the online event via email.

We would like to inform you that invitations are non-transferable.

In case of any questions please do not hesitate to contact us at registration@praguesummit.eu.

Click here: Request invitation for Prague European Summit 2020

Or on this link: https://www.pragueeuropeansummit2020.cz/

Zajímáte se o záležitosti Evropské unie? Chcete pracovat v mezinárodním týmu a získat zkušenost z organizace akce na nejvyšší politické úrovni? Přihlaste se do 20. září a načerpejte jedinečné zkušenosti při organizaci této konference.

Prague European Summit se koná ve dnech 18. - 19. listopadu 2020 v sídle Ministerstva zahraničních věcí v Černínském paláci. Hlavními organizátory jsou Institut pro evropskou politiku EUROPEUM a Ústav mezinárodních vztahů. Prague European Summit vznikl s cílem vyvolat strategickou a otevřenou debatu o budoucnosti Evropské unie mezi vysokými politickými představiteli, zástupci podniků, akademiky a novináři z České republiky a dalších evropských i světových zemí.

Požadujeme

• prezenční studium VŠ se zaměřením na mezinárodní vztahy, evropská studia, politologii apod.
• komunikativnost a spolehlivost, smysl pro detail
• časovou flexibilitu v listopadu 2020, především 9. – 20. 11. 2020
• češtinu a angličtinu na vysoké úrovni, němčina, francouzština, španělština, polština a ruština výhodou
• zkušenost s pořádáním veřejných akcí či organizační/administrativní činností výhodou
• zkušenost se správou a obsluhou sociálních sítí výhodou

Nabízíme

• práci na významném projektu, v mezinárodním týmu
• zkušenosti z organizace konference na nejvyšší úrovni
• účast na expertních debatách o směřování Evropské unie, pod záštitou Ministerstva zahraničí ČR, Úřadu vlády ČR, Zastoupení Evropské komise v ČR a Hlavního města Prahy
• možnost potkat se se zahraničními odborníky, předními představiteli ČR a EU
• potvrzení o vykonané stáži

Pokud máte o stáž zájem, zašlete strukturovaný životopis spolu s krátkým motivačním dopisem na adresu info@praguesummit.eu nejpozději do 20. září 2020.

Prosíme, nenechávejte zasílání přihlášek na poslední chvíli, uchazeči budou vybíráni průběžně do naplnění kapacity organizačního týmu. Děkujeme za pochopení.

MAY 13 2020, PRAGUE.

Dear supporters, partners and distinguished guests,

after evaluating the development of the COVID-19 pandemic, measures adopted by countries and their implications for the Prague European Summit 2020, we have decided to postpone the event to 18-19 November 2020. Be sure to mark new date into your calendars.

Health and safety is our top priority. Therefore we will continue closely monitoring the situation and prepare the best possible event in a safe environment. You can stay up to date on any new developments via our website praguesummit.eu and our social media channels: Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Instagram.

Please do not hesitate to contact us via social media or info@praguesummit.eu with any questions or concerns you may have. Thank you for understanding.

Best wishes,
Prague European Summit Team

FELF 2020 is still happening! Despite the current public health crisis, we remain committed to make FELF happen later this year. At this stage, we are working hard to find an alternative date for the forum - most likely in one of the autumn months. Follow felf.praguesummit.eu and our social media for further updates.

What is FELF?

FELF meeting interconnects young people with experts and decision makers on a wide range of the most pressing issues on the European level.

Every year, an opportunity to have a tangible policy impact is given to 30 exceptional future leaders between the age of 21 and 30 (participants up to 35 y.o. may be considered) with diverse professional and academic background.

FELF summons individuals with a proven track record as opinion leaders in their fields of activity, including, but not limited to: politics, science, business, media, the arts, and civil society. We are looking for candidates who are creative, committed and passionate about reshaping the future of Europe.

Over the course of 6 days, FELF offers you to cultivate your not only professional knowledge, but also your negotiation, organisational, communicational and analytical skill all the while nurturing your creative thinking.

Your FELF experience will empower you, the young leader, to become a more active citizen and help you to make your voice heard on all levels, be it European, national or local or any other.

​More information at felf.praguesummit.eu or felf@praguesummit.eu (Mr. Jiří Mach, FELF Coordinator).

MAY 13 2020, PRAGUE. After evaluating the development of the COVID-19 pandemic, measures adopted by countries and their implications for the Prague European Summit 2020, we have decided to postpone the event to 18-20 November 2020.

MARCH 20 2020, PRAGUE. Regarding the Future European Leaders Forum applications.

Due to current circumstances, the deadline is extended until further notice. We will keep you regularly updated as new information emerge. Thank you for your patience and we wish you the best of luck.

Prague European Summit Team

MARCH 11 2020, PRAGUE. Statement regarding the latest news about the coronavirus disease (COVID-19):

Dear supporters, partners and distinguished guests,

we are closely following the developments regarding the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) and the related responses by authorities, including restrictions on travel and assembly, and assessing the situation to ensure that the upcoming Prague European Summit takes place in a safe environment.

For the time being, we continue to expect the conference, as well as all planned side events, to take place as planned. We go on with the preparations to make a great and safe event for everyone and will keep you regularly updated as new information emerge. In the meantime, please do not hesitate to contact us with any questions and concerns you may have.

Best wishes,
Prague European Summit Team

If the form below is not displayed properly, you can access it using this link or bit.ly/PES20Partner.

UPDATE MARCH 20 2020. Due to current circumstances, the deadline is extended until further notice. We will keep you regularly updated as new information emerge.

FEBRUARY 11 2020, PRAGUE. Are you interested in EU affairs and passionate about debating issues with opinion leaders and fellow EU enthusiasts? Do you want to join 30 exceptional young people with diverse professional and academic backgrounds? Apply now for an exceptional opportunity to learn how to shape policy.

To inspire, connect, and empower. The mission of the Prague European Summit’s Future European Leaders Forum (FELF) is to create a space for meaningful, open and inspiring formal and informal conversations and learning via different formats - for instance, teambuilding, workshops, simulations, training, panel discussions and networking receptions. FELF will interconnect young people with experienced experts and decision makers on European level and enhance not only your professional knowledge but also your skills in policy level negotiations or organisational, communicational, analytical and creative solution thinking. You will acquire a practical set of skills and competencies which you will use not only in your future working life, but also in your daily life in general. This new knowledge and enhanced transferable skills will help to empower you, the “young leaders”, to be more active citizens at the European, national or local level and thus will contribute to the achievement of your personal fulfilment.

FELF participants will have an opportunity to be involved in discussions on topics such as environmental challenges, social issues, the security environment and digital opportunities. Further, FELF will include policy writing workshops and skills training. You will have the opportunity to network with decision-makers and experts taking part in the Prague European Summit (PES), and also with fellow young leaders. This will provide them with a unique possibility to elevate your ideas, which you would not be able to execute alone. Also, with further shared knowledge and contacts, FELF participants will form a network through which they will be able to create meaningful projects together in the future.

During the meeting, participants are expected to build on their admission essay in a structured and guided way with experienced lecturers, and by the end of the meeting they are to produce a joint policy statement with suggested policy changes which will then be discussed with relevant stakeholders.

The opportunity to attend FELF will be given to 30 exceptional future leaders between the ages of 21 and 30 (though participants up to the age of 35 may be considered) with diverse professional and academic backgrounds, and with a proven track record as opinion leaders in their fields of activity, including, but not limited to: politics, science, business, media, the arts, and civil society. We are looking for candidates who are creative, committed and passionate about reshaping the future of Europe. Thus, our Future European Leaders Forum is an integral part of the Prague European Summit.

The organizers will provide the foreign participants with accommodation. In the event of a successful funding opportunity provided by an ERASMUS+ grant (pending), some participants may be eligible for travel grants; the participants who are to receive these grants are selected on an individual basis, and the final decision is to be issued by the organizers.

Applicant Requirements

• Between 21 and 30 years of age (participants from 31 to 35 years of age may be considered as well, but they may not be eligible for a fully funded stay)
• Active in politics, state affairs, business, media, arts, sports, science, a non-profit environment, etc.
• An interest in EU affairs, its political and economic development, security, and/or any other fields of relevance to European affairs
• Fluent in English
• A willingness to actively engage in FELF debates and the Prague European Summit discussions
• A willingness to participate in any other related activities

Dates 1 - 5 June 2020: Five days of Future European Leaders Forum and Prague European Summit debates

Topics to be discussed
Environment, Security, Digital and Emerging Technologies, Society, Advocacy, Politics, The EU in General, Participatory Methods, Youth Opportunities

Applications
Please send us your CV (including your date of birth and full contact details). Applicants are required to send a short essay on the following topic: How would you tackle the challenges (environmental, social, technological or security) that the EU currently faces? The essay may have a length of up to 2000 characters (not more), and the participants are expected to build on the essay during the workshops, while working jointly with other participants in creating a final policy memo that will then be presented to the relevant stakeholders. To learn more about how we comply with GDPR regulations please visit www.bit.ly/PES_GDPR

The final deadline for applications is the 29^th of March 2020, 23:59 CET.

This project is supported by the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung, Representation in the Czech Republic.
This project is supported by ERASMUS+ funding (pending).

Contacts
Jiří Mach
FELF coordinator
e-mail: felf@praguesummit.eu

You can also download this document as a PDF file.

For more information about FELF, visit felf.praguesummit.eu.

Dr. Vaira Vike-Freiberga is former President of the World Leadership Alliance/Club de Madrid and former President of Latvia (1999-2007). She played a leading role in achieving membership in the EU and NATO for her country and was Special Envoy on UN reform. She was vice-chair of the Reflection group on the long-term future of Europe, and chaired the High-level group on freedom and pluralism of media in the EU in 2011-12.

She is a member, board member or patron of 30 international organisations, including ECFR, Nizami Ganjavi International Centre (Co-chair), Library of Alexandria, Trust Fund for Victims of the ICC, Panel of Eminent Persons on European Security of OSCE, Advisory Council of CEPA, as well as five Academies. She has been awarded 34 Orders of Merit and 19 Honorary doctorates.

Born in Riga, Vaira started her schooling in refugee camps in Germany, continued in Morocco, and obtained a Ph.D. at McGill University (1965). After a distinguished career as Professor of psychology at the University of Montreal, she returned to her native country in 1998 to head the Latvian Institute. Less than a year later she was elected President by the Latvian Parliament and re-elected in 2003.

From September 2005 to August 2013, Pascal Lamy served for two consecutive terms as General Director- of the World Trade Organization (WTO).  A committed European and member of the French Socialist party, he was Chief of Staff for the President of the European Commission, Jacques Delors from 1985 to 1994. He then joined the Credit Lyonnais as CEO until 1999, before returning to Brussels as European Trade Commissioner until 2004. Mr. Lamy holds degrees from HEC School of Management, the Institut d’Etudes Politiques (IEP) and the Ecole Nationale d’Administration (ENA).

Pascal Lamy was appointed, in May 2015, as interministerial delegate for the preparation of the French candidature for the Universal Exhibition 2025. He shares his other activities between the Jacques Delors Institute (President emeritus), the presidency of the World Committee on Tourism Ethics, the presidency of the Oxford Martin School Commission for Future Generations, the vice-presidency of the Foundation for European Progressive Studies (FEPS), the Co-chair of the Equitable Access Initiative (Global Fund for AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria), his participation to the Global Ocean Commission and UNAIDS as well as different subjects related to international affairs.

Prior to joining the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic as a Deputy Minister, Aleš Chmelař worked at the Government Office as State Secretary for European Affairs of the Czech Republic. Before that he was a researcher in the field of financial markets at the Center for European Policy Studies (CEPS), the largest and oldest think-tank in Brussels. From 2014, he worked as head European analyst at the Czech Government Office and Head of EU Economic Policy Coordination. He is specialized in European economic and financial policy, the transformation of post-communist countries and the industrial strategy of Central Europe.

Ana Palacio is an international lawyer specializing in international and European Union law and founder of Palacio y Asociados (Madrid, Brussels and Washington DC), a law firm specializing in European and International Law, and arbitration. Ms. Palacio sits on the corporate boards of Pharmamar (biotech), Enagás (gas systems), and AEE Power (energy infrastructures); she is a member of the European Advisory Committee of Investcorp (investment), and the International Advisory Board of Office Chérifien des Phosphates -OCP- (fertilizers); and a member of the Governing Council of the Instituto de Empresa (business school). Ana Palacio serves on the Executive Board of The Atlantic Council of the United States and is a member of the World Economic Forum's Global Agenda Council. She further participates on the governing bodies of several research centers and public institutions, among them as member of the Scientific Council of the Real Instituto Elcano, member of the Council of the ECFR, and member of the Board of Visitors of the MD Anderson Cancer Center. She is a visiting professor at the Edmund E. Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University.

Ms. Palacio served as Minister of Foreign Affairs of Spain (2002-2004) and was a member of the Spanish Parliament (2004-2006) where she chaired the Joint Committee of the two Houses for European Union Affairs. She has been Senior Vice-President and General Counsel of the World Bank Group and Secretary General of ICSID (2006-2008). From 1994 until 2002, she was a member of European Parliament where she chaired the Legal Affairs and Internal Market Committee, the Citizens Rights, Justice and Home Affairs Committee, as well as the Committee of Committee Chairs. Ms. Palacio publishes regularly in periodicals and journals. In particular, she maintains a monthly column at Project Syndicate.

Vladimír Bartovic is the director of EUROPEUM Institute for European Policy. In 2014 he has been appointed external advisor – a member of the Group of External Advisors on the EU policies to the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic and a member of the Programme Council of the Czech – Polish Forum. In 2015 he has been elected member of the Board of Directors of PASOS – Policy Association for an Open Society.

He graduated in international trade and international politics at the University of Economics, Prague, Faculty of International Relations. He also studied at University of Granada, Faculty of Political Science and Sociology.

From 2011 to 2012 he served as a director of Strategic Planning and Analysis at the Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Slovak Republic. He also worked as an editor in the Integrace magazine. He has been lecturing on topical EU issues at the Institute of Public Administration and the Czech National Bank. He co-operated with OSCE election missions in the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Kosovo.

Dr. Ditrych holds degrees in International Relations from University of Cambridge (Mphil.) and Charles University in Prague (Ph.D.) where he is now an academic fellow and becoming the director of the IIR, was in charge of coordinating D. CENT Karl Deutsch Centre for International Political and Social Research at the Department of International Relations. He has gained valuable experience as the Fulbright research fellow at Belfer Center, Harvard University, a visiting researcher at CERI, Sciences Po, Paris and SWP Berlin, an associate fellow at European Union Institute for Security Studies (EUISS) and an analyst for NATO SHAPE.

In his current research, he explores terrorism and revolutionary violence in global politics, NATO and European security, ethnopolitical conflicts in the Postsoviet space, and global trends and their analysis and forecasts.

Dr. Ditrych is the author of more than forty academic articles, monographies and book chapters. His articles have been published in leading impacted journals in the field of International Relations. His latest book, Tracing the Discourses of Terrorism: Identity, Genealogy, and State, was published by Palgrave Macmillan (2014). Dr. Ditrych has taken part in a number of collective research projects, as well as expert analyses for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic, EEAS or the European Parliament. He is currently a principal investigator of PRIMUS 17/HUM/24 Hybrid Revolutionary Actors in Global Politics (2018-) and a senior researcher in an interdisciplinary center of excellence UNCE Violence, Trauma and Justice (2018-).

Steven Blockmans is Directo at the Brussels-based think tank Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS), Professor of EU External Relations Law and Governance at the University of Amsterdam, and a founding member of the Centre for the Law of EU External Relations (CLEER). He is the author of ‘Tough Love: the EU’s relations with the Western Balkans’ (AP/CUP 2007) and the (co-)editor of more than 10 volumes, including ‘The EU's Role in Global Governance’ (OUP 2013) and ‘Differentiated Integration in the EU: From the Inside Looking Out’ (CEPS 2014). He served as leading author of the FES-sponsored Task Force on ‘More Union in European Defence’ chaired by Javier Solana (CEPS 2015). 

For more than 20 years Steven has combined his academic work with contract research carried out for EU and national donors, consultancy activities and training for professionals. He has advised governments of third countries on their relations with the EU and worked on numerous technical assistance projects in wider Europe and Asia. He is a regular speaker at international conferences and a frequent commentator on EU affairs for international media. Before joining CEPS in 2012, Steven was Head of Research at the Asser Institute, an international law centre based in The Hague. From 2010 to 2014, he was a special visiting professor at the Law Faculty of University of Leuven. From 2007 to 2009 he served as a long-term expert on legal approximation in the framework of an EU-sponsored project in support for the Ministry of European Integration of Albania.

Prof. Balázs graduated in Budapest at the Faculty of Economics of the “Karl Marx” University (today Corvinus University). He got his PhD degree and habilitated at the same University. He is ScD of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. In parallel with his government and diplomatic career, he has been teaching and doing research. He was nominated Professor of the Corvinus University in 2000 and joined the CEU as full time Professor in 2005.

Prof. Balázs is currently holding a Jean Monnet Ad Personam Chair at CEU. His research activities are centered on the foreign policy of the EU and problems of the late modernization and European integration of the Eastern part of the continent. He also analyzes questions of European governance including the future of European institutions. He is regularly teaching at various home and foreign universities, lecturing in English, French, German and Hungarian. In 2005, he established the Center for European Neighborhood Studies (CENS) at the Central European University. 

Ivan Hodáč is a Founder and Vice-President of the Aspen Institute Prague. He was Secretary-General of the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (ACEA) from 2001 until October 2013. He is currently member of a special Advisory Group of experts, which advises the European Commission in negotiation of the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership with the United States (TTIP). He is also the Chairman of the Board at cabinet DN. The Financial Times listed him among the most influential personalities in Brussels politics. Before joining ACEA, he was Senior Vice-President and Head of the Time Warner Corporate office for Europe. Previously he was Secretary-General of the trade organization IFMA/IMACE, Senior Economist at Didier & Associates, and Assistant Professor at the College of Europe, Bruges. He was born in Prague, where he studied mechanical engineering. He completed his education in economics and political science at the University of Copenhagen and the College of Europe in Bruges (European studies).

Ms Hrdinková has been actively involved in international relations and EU affairs during her entire career. She has represented the Czech Republic in EU institutions such as ECOFIN and other international bodies; she had also worked on implementing EU law into the Czech legislation prior to the Czech Republic’s accession to the EU, served as a national expert in the European Commission, and chaired an EU Council’s working group during the Czech presidency of the EU.

Until January 2019, she had been employed at the Ministry of Finance where she held expert and managerial positions such as department director at the Office of the Minister of Finance and advisor of the Deputy Minister of Finance for Taxes and Customs, and she had also directed the International Relations and Financial Markets section. She specialises in fiscal relations and development assistance and she has served as an external expert for the International Monetary Fund.

She also occasionally teaches at the University of Economics in Prague.

At present, she is Head of the European Commission Representation in the Czech Republic. Before taking up this position, she worked as the Acting Head of Representation of the EC to the Czech Republic; a Head of Political Sector as well as a Press Officer in the EC Representation. As regards her Brussels experience, she worked in the Directorate General for Communications Networks, Content & Technology (2012–2013) being in charge of relations with stakeholders. Before that she worked in the Secretariat General of the Commission, as a policy coordinator (2005–2006) and then in charge of Briefings for the President (2006– 2012). Earlier, she worked in the Directorate General Press and Communication (2002 – 2005). Dana Kovaříková studied at Masaryk University in Brno, where she obtained a degree in economics and in media studies and journalism; at Katholieke Universiteit in Leuven (Belgium), where she obtained a degree in Sociology of Social Change; and at Université Rennes 1 (France), where she obtained a Diplome franco-tcheque d´administration publique. 

László Andor is Head of Department and Associate Professor at the Department of Economic Policy (Corvinus University of Budapest). He is also Senior Fellow at Hertie School of Governance (Berlin) and Visiting Professor at ULB (Brussels).

He served as EU Commissioner for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion from 2010-2014. Between 2005 and 2010, he was a member of the board of directors at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, representing Hungary, the Czech Republic, the Slovak Republic and Croatia.

Andor holds a degree in Economic Sciences from Karl Marx (now Corvinus) University as well as an MA in Development Economics from the University of Manchester. During his studies, he spent time at George Washington University, the University of Oslo, King’s College London and the Dutch Royal Academy of Sciences.

In 1997/8 he was Visiting Fulbright Scholar at Rutgers University (USA). He has authored, edited or co-edited a dozen books in Hungary. Since 1998, he has been member of the trustees of the European Studies Foundation in Budapest.

Andor was awarded Doctor Honoris Causa at Sofia University of National and World Economy in May 2014 and the Legion of Honour (chevalier) by the French President in August of that year.

Ambassador (Rtd) Martin Bútora was the advisor to President of Slovak Republic Andrej Kiska (from June 2014 to June 2019). He is the founder and honorary president of the Institute for Public Affairs in Bratislava established in 1997. In 1990 – 1992 he served as advisor for human rights to President Václav Havel. From 1999 to 2003, he was the Ambassador of Slovakia to the United States.

Amb. Butora holds a PhD. in Sociology from Charles University in Prauge. He taught at Charles University, Trnava University and University of Economics in Bratislava. He writes on civil society, foreign policy, and democratic transformation. In the last years, he co-authored and/or co-edited Visegrad Elections 2010: Domestic Impact and European Consequences, 2011; Active Citizenship and Nongovernmental Sector in Slovakia, 2012; Alternative Politics? The Rise of New Political Parties in Central Europe, 2013; Collective Defence and Common Security. Twin Pillars of the Atlantic Alliance. Group of Policy Experts report to the NATO Secretary General, 2014.

Ambassador Butora is the recipient of the Democracy Service Medal from the National Endowment for Democracy (1999), Crystal Wing Award for diplomatic achievements (2002), and Knight’s Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta (2011). He served as Human Rights Advisor to Czechoslovak President Vaclav Havel (1990–1992).

Roland Freudenstein was born in Bonn, Germany. After a two year voluntary military service, he studied political science, economics, Japan studies and international relations in Bonn and Los Angeles. Having worked as a research fellow at the German Council on Foreign Relations, he became a member of the foreign and security planning staff of the European Commission in Brussels in the 1990s. Subsequently, he became the director of the Warsaw office of the Konrad Adenauer Foundation and later held a leading function in the Foundation’s central office in Berlin. After coming back to Brussels in 2004, he represented the German city state of Hamburg to the EU.

Roland Freudenstein is now, since 2008, Head of Research and Deputy Director of the Wilfried Martens Centre for European Studies. He has contributed to debates and published extensively on European integration, international security, German-Polish relations, global democracy support and recently about the changes in the Middle East. Since 2015 Roland Freudenstein is also a Policy Director of the Wilfried Martens Centre for European Studies

The start of the career of Dr. Rudolf Jindrák was tied with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He started in the Consular Department and served as a General Consul in Munich. He focused mainly on the relationships with Central European states and German speaking states and served as a Head of First Department at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (bilateral relations with Austria, Germany, Hungary, Liechtenstein, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia, and Switzerland). He was appointed as the Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Ambassador of the Czech Republic to the Republic of Hungary, to the Republic of Austria, to the Federal Republic of Germany between years 1998 and 2014. He also acted as the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs in 2001 to 2004 and in 2014 to 2015.Since August 2015 he has served in the advisory board of PM Bohuslav Sobotka where he was responsible for fostering of the relations with Germany and Central European cooperation agenda. Since 15 March 2017 he serves as the Director of the Foreign Department of the Presidential Office.

Christian Lequesne holds BA and MA degrees from Sciences Po Strasbourg and the College of Europe, Bruges. He then got his Ph.D. in political science and his Habilitation in Sciences Po Paris. Since 1988, he worked as a research fellow and then Professor at Sciences Po. He was also a deputy director of CERI, and later director of CERI. Furthermore, he worked as a director of the Centre français de recherche en sciences sociales (CEFRES) in Prague and as a professor at the European Institute of the London School of Economics. He is a regular visiting professor at the School of Government of LUISS University, the Diplomatic Academy in Vienna, and the Department of Social Sciences of Charles University in Prague.

He is currently Co-Chief Editor of European Review of International Studies, member of the editorial board of The Hague Journal of Diplomacy, Journal of European Integration and member of the scientific committees of Politique européenne and Etudes européennes. Moreover, he is member of the Scientific Board of the Institut für Europäische Politik (Berlin), the Fondation Robert Schuman and the Finnish Institute of International Affairs. Was awarded the F. Palacky social sciences medal by the Czech Academy of Sciences and Chevalier in the Ordre des Palmes académiques.

Dr. phil. Barbara Lippert studied Political Science, Contemporary and Eastern European History and Slavonic Studies at the University of Bonn and the Free University Berlin between the years 1981-1987. She then acquired her Doctorate (Dr. phil) at the University of Bonn. In 1990–1992, she worked as a Senior Associate at the Institute for European Politics (IEP) in Bonn and Berlin and between 1992–2009 as a Deputy Director of the Institute for European Politics (IEP) in Berlin.

Since April 2009, she has worked as a Director of Research and Member of Executive Board of the German Institute for International and Security Affairs of the Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik (SWP) in Berlin.

Her areas of expertise are EU enlargement policy, development of the political system of the EU, Germany and European integration and the European Neighbourhood Policy.

Prior to joining the Human Brain Project, Paweł Świeboda was the Deputy Head of the European Political Strategy Centre (EPSC), an in-house think tank of the European Commission reporting directly to President Juncker, from 2015 to 2020, and President of demosEUROPA – Centre for European Strategy, an EU policy think tank based in Warsaw, from 2006 to 2015. Earlier, he was Director of the EU Department at the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the years 2001-2006 and EU Advisor to the President of Poland from 1996 to 2000.

A graduate of the London School of Economics (BSs in Economics), and the University of London (MA in International Relations), he is a member of a number of advisory boards of European think tanks as well as a member of the Global Agenda Council on Europe of the World Economic Forum. In 2013/2014, he was Rapporteur of the Review of European Innovation Partnerships.

Vessela Tcherneva is the co-founder of Sofia Platform, a venue for dialogue between members of NGOs, the media, and politics from Europe, the Middle East, and the United States. From 2010 to 2013 she was the spokesperson for the Bulgarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and a member of the political cabinet of Foreign Minister Nickolay Mladenov. She has been the head of the Bulgarian office of the European Council for Foreign Relations since 2008, as well as programme director for Foreign Policy Studies at the Centre for Liberal Strategies in Sofia. Between 2004 and 2006 she was secretary of the International Commission on the Balkans, chaired by former Italian prime minister Giuliano Amato. She has been a supervising editor for Foreign Policy Bulgaria magazine since its launch in 2005.

Nathalie Tocci is Director of the Istituto Affari Internazionali, Honorary Professor at the University of Tübingen, and Special Adviser to EU HRVP Federica Mogherini, on behalf of whom she wrote the European Global Strategy and is now working on its implementation, notably in the field of security and defence. Previously she held research positions at the Centre for European Policy Studies, Brussels, the Transatlantic Academy, Washington and the Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies, Florence. Her research interests include European foreign policy, conflict resolution, the Middle East and the Mediterranean. Her major publications include: Framing the EU's Global Strategy, Springer-Palgrave Macmillan, 2017 (author); The EU, Promoting Regional Integration, and Conflict Resolution, Springer-Palgrave Macmillan, 2017 (co-editor); Turkey and the European Union, Palgrave Macmillan, 2015 (co-author); Multilateralism in the 21st Century, Routledge, 2013 (co-editor), Turkey’s European Future: Behind the Scenes of America’s Influence on EU-Turkey Relations, New York University Press, 2011 (author); and The EU and Conflict Resolution, Routledge, 2007 (author). Nathalie is the 2008 winner of the Anna Lindh award for the study of European Foreign Policy.

Petr Kratochvíl is the Senior Researcher of the Institute of International Relations and a lecturer at several Czech universities. He is the Chairman of the Academic Council of the Diplomatic Academy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic as well as a member of a range of academic and scientific councils. Petr Kratochvíl represents the IIR in various international associations such as the Trans European Policy Studies Association or the European Consortium for Political Research.

He has published extensively on European integration, EU-Russian relations, institutional reform and the EU enlargement, the role of religion in international affairs, and international relations theory.  The book The European Union and the Catholic Church: Political Theology of European Integration, co-authored by Tomáš Doležal and published in 2015 by Palgrave Macmillan, is one of the latest examples of his research activity. He is also often called upon to present his analyses by various Czech and foreign media.

Ivan Korčok has been appointed Minister of Foreign and European Affairs of the Slovak Republic in April 2020.

Minister Korčok’s career at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs started back in 1992. Since then, he has held many positions there. From 2001 to 2002, he acted as Director-General at the General Directorate for International Organisations and Security Policy. After that, he took on the position of the State Secretary.  

Prior to the position of the Minister of Foreign and European Affairs of the Slovak Republic, Ivan Korčok served as the State Secretary at the Ministry. 

Dr. Anže Logar, born on 15 May 1976, graduated from the Faculty of Economics in Ljubljana in 2000, obtained his master's degree from the Faculty of State and European Studies in January 2006 and his doctoral degree from the School of Advanced Social Studies in July 2016. From 2000 to January 2003, he worked as a product manager in the marketing department at SKB banka. He then continued his career in the European Parliament.

In both governments under Janez Janša, the Government of the Republic of Slovenia appointed him Director of the Government Communication Office. During Slovenia's Presidency of the Council of the EU, he was the spokesperson of the Slovenian EU Council Presidency. Later he joined the Economic Diplomacy Division within the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as Minister Plenipotentiary for OECD relations.

On 16 February 2007, Lithuanian Independence Day, the then Lithuanian President Valdas Adamkus conferred upon him a state award – the "Life Saving Cross" – for his services in saving a Lithuanian citizen, Mantvydas Juozapavičius, from drowning in one of Hungary's lakes.

Tomáš Petříček was Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic, in charge of setting the overall policy and strategic goals of the Foreign Ministry. He previously served as Deputy Minister of Social Affairs of the Czech Republic. He is a member of the Czech Social Democratic Party.

Before joining the government, Mr Petříček was a senior advisor in the European Parliament and had a successful career in local government in the City of Prague. He also served as a lecturer in International Political Economy at the Faculty of Social Sciences, Charles University.

He holds a PhD in International Relations and is fluent in English and conversational in French.

On January 7, 2020, Alexander Schallenberg was reappointed as Federal Minister for Europe, Integration and Foreign Affairs by Federal President Alexander Van der Bellen. He already served in this capacity since June 3, 2019.  

Alexander Schallenberg was born on June 20, 1969, in Bern as the son of an Austrian diplomat. From 1989 - 1994 he studied the law at the University of Vienna and at the Université Panthéon-Assas (Paris II). He also holds a degree in European law from the College of Europe in Bruges.

Alexander Schallenberg joined the diplomatic service of the Republic of Austria in 1997. He completed his training at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs primarily in the Section for EU Affairs. Alexander Schallenberg’s first posting abroad was as the EU legal advisor to the Permanent Representation of Austria to the European Union in Brussels.

In December 2005 Alexander Schallenberg returned to Vienna, where he served as spokesperson to Foreign Minister Ursula Plassnik as well as to her successor Michael Spindelegger. He held further functions in the diplomatic service of the Republic of Austria including head of the Strategic Foreign Policy Planning Unit, head of the EU Affairs Section, as well as head of the EU Coordination Section at the Federal Chancellery.

Nikola Dimitrov serves as a Deputy Prime Minister for European Affairs of the Republic of North Macedonia. Prior to his current appointment, Mr. Dimitrov was Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of North Macedonia from 2017 to 2020. During his term as a Minister of Foreign Affairs, the General Affairs Council of the EU agreed upon opening the accession negotiations with the Republic of North Macedonia. In the period 2014 to 2017, he was a prominent member of The Hague Institute of Global Justice, and since 2011 has been a member of the Permanent Court for Arbitration in The Hague. From 2009 to 2014 Dimitrov was an Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Ambassador of the Republic of Macedonia to The Hague, the Kingdom of the Netherlands, and Permanent Representative of the Republic of Macedonia to the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons. From 2007 to 2008, he also served as a Special Envoy of the Government of the Republic of Macedonia for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration in Brussels, Kingdom of Belgium, and from 2001 to 2006, as an Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Ambassador of the Republic of Macedonia to Washington, USA.

Naser Nuredini started his career in the field of banking in Vienna as a junior associate working on privatization projects and capital investments in the Western Balkans, then moving to London where he became a research analyst on stock exchange-listed companies. He became Vice President for proprietary, structured finance and equity derivative investments in the emerging European markets at UniCredit Bank AG. After leaving UniCredit Bank he was a director at ING Bank NV in London. Naser Nuredini later returned to Vienna, where he continued working as an investment manager and consultant in asset management.

Nuredini was appointed Minister of Environment and Physical Planning in June 2019. At the parliamentary elections in 2020, he was elected a member of Parliament in North Macedonia. As of August 30th, he was trusted again with the role of Minister of Environment.

Naser Nuredini went to an international school in Vienna and studied International Business at the University of Brighton in the UK and Mainz, Germany.

Janez Lenarčič is currently the European Commissioner for Crisis Management, Brussels. Before that, he served as an Ambassador to Permanent Representative of the Republic of Slovenia to the EU, State Secretary for European and Foreign Affairs at the Office of the Prime Minister, and Director of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), among other positions.

Federica Mogherini is the Rector of the College of Europe since September 2020. She co-chairs the United Nations High Level Panel on Internal Displacement since January 2020. Previously she has served as the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice-President of the European Commission, from 2014 to 2019.

Prior to joining the EU, she was Italian Minister for Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation (2014), and a Member of the Italian Chamber of Deputies (2008-14). In her parliamentary capacity, she was Head of the Italian Delegation to the NATO Parliamentary Assembly and Vice-President of its Political Committee (2013-14); member of the Italian Delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (2008-13); Secretary of the Defence Committee (2008-13); and member of the Foreign Affairs Committee. She also coordinated the Inter-Parliamentary Group for Development Cooperation.

Ms. Wallström, a Swedish Social Democratic Party politician and diplomat, was Sweden’s Minister for Foreign Affairs from 2014 to 2019. She previously served as European Commissioner for the Environment from 1999 to 2004 and as First Vice President of the European Commission, responsible for institutional relations and communication strategy from 2004 to 2009. From 2010 to 2012, Ms. Wallström was the Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General on Sexual Violence in Conflict. She has served as Chair of the Board of Lund University, Chair of the Council of Women World Leaders Ministerial Initiative and as Board Member of the Global Challenges Foundation. She was Chair of the Board of Advisors of the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (IDEA) in 2014 and a Member of the Board from 2011 to 2014. Ms. Wallström has received honorary doctorate degrees from the Chalmers University of Technology, the University of Massachusetts Lowell, Umeå University, and Mälardalen University.

Prior to his current appointment, M. Dion was Canada’s Minister of Foreign Affairs from November 2015 until January 2017. He was previously Minister of the Environment from 2004 to 2005, and, in 2005, chaired the United Nations Conference on Climate Change (COP11/MOP1). From 2001 to 2003 he was Minister responsible for Official Languages. Serving as Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs between 1996 and 2003, longer than any other Canadian since Confederation, he played a primary role promoting Canadian unity.

In 2006, he was elected Leader of the Liberal Party of Canada and became the Leader of the Official Opposition in the Canadian House of Commons, a position he held until 2008.

Before entering politics, Stéphane Dion taught Political Science at Université de Moncton in 1984, then at Université de Montréal from 1984 to 1995. He has authored many scientific articles and books on Public Administration, Organizational Studies, Political Institutions and Environmental Policies.

Masamichi Kono was appointed Deputy Secretary-General in August 2017. His portfolio includes OECD policy on environment, green growth and financial and enterprise affairs. He also represents the OECD at the Financial Stability Board.  

Mr Kono has had a long career in financial supervision and the regulation of financial services, in Japan and globally. He was Vice Minister for International Affairs of the Japanese Financial Services Agency (JFSA), prior to his appointment at the OECD.

He served as Chairman of the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) Technical Committee (April 2011-May 2012), and thereafter as Chairman of the IOSCO Board (until March 2013). He was also the Co-chair of the Financial Stability Board Regional Consultative Group for Asia (July 2013-June 2015), and Chairman of the IFRS Foundation Monitoring Board (February 2013-June 2016). Previously, he was Secretary to the World Trade Organization’s Trade in Financial Services Committee (1995-99).

Mrs Lilyana Pavlova is currently Vice-President of the European Investment Bank responsible for Cohesion policy; Transport financing; Advisory, Joint Assistance to Support Projects in European Regions (JASPERS) and European Investment Advisory Hub (EIAH); IT and data governance; Joint European Support for Sustainable Investment in City Areas (JESSICA); Relations with the Vienna Initiative; Strategy for the Danube region. She is also responsible for the activities of the Bank in most countries in Central and Eastern Europe.  

Before that Mrs Pavlova has been a Member of the National Assembly of the Republic of Bulgaria. In the period May 2017 – December 2018 Mrs Pavlova was Minister for the Bulgarian Presidency of the Council of the European Union 2018. Lilyana Pavlova was Minister of Regional Development and Public Works for two mandates (2014 - January 2017 and 2011 – 2013) and a Deputy Minister in the same Ministry (2009 – 2011).

She has a long experience in the field of management of European funds and projects since 1997. In the period 2002 – 2009 she was Head of Department at Ministry of Finance, National Fund Directorate (Financial Management, Control and Certification of the Structural and Cohesion Funds of the European Union and pre-accession funds and programs).

Lilyana Pavlova has a PhD in Economics, a Master’s degree in Public Administration and European Integration and a bachelor degree in International Economic Relations.

She is fluent in English and Russian.

James Appathurai was appointed Deputy Assistant Secretary-General in December 2010. As DASG, he is responsible for NATO’s political relations with countries across the globe, international organisations, enlargement, and arms control. He provides policy advice on political issues affecting the security of the Alliance. He is responsible for implementing and developing NATO’s relations with all its partner countries and organisations, including through Political Agreements, Partnership Cooperation Programmes, and other bilateral and multilateral arrangements. AstheSecretary General’s Special Representative, he is responsible for carrying forward the Alliance’s policy in the two strategically important regions of the Caucasus and Central Asia.Mr.Appathurai previously served as NATO’s Spokesperson from 2004to 2010. Prior to that, he served as Deputy Head and Senior Planning Officer in the Policy Planning and Speechwriting Section of NATO’s Political Affairs Division from 1998 to 2004. He served in the Canadian Defence Department from 1994 to 1998.

Christina's research interests include peace and conflict management studies with a specific focus on the intersectionality of business, forced migration, and the meaningful inclusion and participation of women in fragile and conflict-affected situations.

Currently, she is a Visiting Fellow at IDEAS, the London School of Economics and Political Science's foreign policy think tank and adjunct faculty member at Vesalius College in Brussels.

Up until 2019, she was a Visiting Fellow at the Wilfried Martens Centre for European Studies, the official political think tank of the European People's Party. She is Co-Chair of the International Crisis Group's Ambassador Council and Chair of the United Nations Principles for Responsible Management Education, Business for Peace working group. She is a member of the network for Academic Friends of the European Peacebuilding Liaison Office, Co-Opinion Network's study group on youth employment in the Middle East North Africa region; Hollings Center's dialogue groups on Profits to Peace, Iraq's Foreign Policy and Economic Challenges and U.S.-Egypt Relations. She is Co-Founder of the Women in Foreign Policy Turkey chapter and has participated in numerous Track II dialogue initiatives throughout the Middle East and Turkey.

Mr Ghenadie Barba, is the Chief of Rule of Law Unit at the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights of the OSCE, based in Warsaw, Poland. Mr Barba leads a team of rule of law officers and provides assistance to the 57 participating States of the OSCE in such matters as independence and accountability of the judiciary, observance of the right to a fair trial, independence of prosecutors, gender and diversity in the judiciary, criminal justice, and administrative justice.  

Mr Barba is a lawyer with two master degrees in criminal law and international crime and justice and has 20 years of experience of working on rule of law matters in a national prosecution service, and international organizations such as: OSCE, UNICEF, Council of Europe, and European Union’s Delegation in Eastern Neighborhood.

Nathalie Bernasconi-Osterwalder, LL.M, is a senior international lawyer and heads the Economic Law & Policy programme of the International Institute on Sustainable Development (IISD). She is also the Executive Director of IISD Europe. Nathalie has extensive legal, policy, and training experience in the area of international trade, investment, sustainable development, human rights, international environmental law and arbitration.

She previously worked as an attorney at the Center for International Environmental Law in Washington and Geneva, where she also managed the office. Earlier, she was a fellow at the International Institute of International Economic Law at Georgetown University Law Center and worked in Hanoi, Vietnam, for a legal reform project of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and for the Australian law firm Phillips Fox. In Switzerland, Nathalie is admitted to the Bar of Basel and has worked for the Justice Department, Berne, in the Section for International Law.

Nathalie Binet is currently the Head of the EIB group office in Prague. In the past, she has held the position of the Loan Officer in the EIB office in Luxembourg where she has been responsible for the region of Southern/Eastern neighborhood & Asia, public sector lending in Moldova, and corporate lending in Slovakia. She has also experience in Commodities as a Structured products trader at Standard Chartered Bank and as an Inflation trader in Crédit Agricole CIB and Royal Bank of Scotland.

Councilor Judith Blake was elected as the first-ever female Leader of Leeds City Council in May 2015.  She is the Council’s Executive Board Member for Inclusive Growth and Culture. Councilor Blake is the Chair of the Core Cities Group. The Group represents the Councils of England’s eight largest city economies outside London, along with Glasgow and Cardiff. She is also Chair of the Local Government Association’s Children & Young People’s Board. Councilor Blake has been a Labour Councilor since 1996 and represents Middleton & Belle Isle in Leeds. Her time as a Councillor has seen her have responsibility for a wide range of portfolios including Planning, Education and Leisure.  Councilor Blake currently chairs the Council’s Executive Board and has also served as a board member for NHS Leeds and the West Yorkshire Police Authority. In 2017, Councilor Blake was awarded a CBE in recognition of service to local government.

Dr János Bóka serves as the State Secretary for Cooperation in European and International Justice Affairs at Ministry of Justice of Hungary. He has held this position since 2018, before that he was the Director of the National Office for the Judiciary at Hungarian Academy of Justice. Since 2015, he has also been an associate professor at the Department of European Public and Private Law at Faculty of International and European Studies of National University of Public Service.

Rob Cameron is the BBC's correspondent in the Czech Republic and Slovakia, covering politics, society, business, arts and other subjects for BBC Radio, BBC TV and BBC News Online. Born in London, Rob moved to Prague in 1993. He began his radio career in 1999, when he joined Radio Prague, the international service of Czech Radio. He began reporting for the BBC in 2001, and became the BBC's full-time Czech and Slovak correspondent in 2004. He also contributes to other broadcasters, including DW (Germany), CBC (Canada), FM4 (Austria), and RTE (Ireland). As well extensive assignments in the Czech Republic and Slovakia, he has also reported from Albania, Austria, Bulgaria, Italy, Germany, Greece, Latvia, Poland, Russia, Sweden and the United States. During his career he has interviewed notable personalities including Václav Havel, Madeleine Albright and the Dalai Lama.

Dušan Chrenek joined the European Commission in 2007 to work as a Head of Unit for Enlargement in Directorate-General for Agriculture and Rural Development. Between 2012 and 2017, he served as Head of the Commission’s Representation in Slovakia. Before joining the Commission, he worked in the Policy Unit of the High Representative/Secretary-General of the Council of the EU and held a number of senior posts in the Slovak Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Koert Debeuf is Editor in Chief of the EUobserver and a research fellow at the universities of Oxford and Brussels. He was a senior advisor and spokesperson of the Belgian prime minister. From 2011 until 2016 he lived and worked in Cairo as a representative of the ALDEgroup in the European Parliament. During those years he traveled extensively in the Arab world. As an expert in EU relations to the Middle East, his work appeared in The New YorkTImes, France24, Al Arabiya, Al Jazeera, La Stampa, Die Zeit among others. His latest books are "Inside the Arab Revolution. Three Years on the Front Line of the Arab Spring" (2014) and "Tribalization. Why War is Coming" (2019) which is translated into Arabic and Japanese. He lives in Brussels.

Maria Demertzis is Deputy Director at Bruegel. She has previously worked at the European Commission and the research department of the Dutch Central Bank. She has also held academic positions at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government in the USA and the University of Strathclyde in the UK, from where she holds a PhD in economics. She has published extensively in international academic journals and contributed regular policy inputs to both the European Commission's and the Dutch Central Bank's policy outlets.

Jakub Dvorak is a Country Manager for Czech Republic at Bolt - third fastest growing company in Europe of both 2019 & 2020 according to Financial Times. After spending some time at Deloitte, he joined Bolt among first 50 employees globally back in 2016. Today Bolt is 1700 people big and Jakub is responsible for its Czech operations and the team of 50. He's involved in public policy on city, government and NGO levels shaping the world of transportation towards greener future.

During the first wave of the pandemic he and his team introduced grocery package delivery within 24h after the lockdown was announced. When online supermarkets were collapsing and waiting times were in days, Bolt was able to deliver grocery packages within 15 min from ordering.

During the second wave Bolt has offered free rides to all medical staff in all Czech cities where Bolt operates in order to make their life at least a little easier.

Katerina Etrychova is a communication manager, presenter, movie producer, writer and former TV personality. She is working in the foreign diplomatic field since 2018 and dividing her free time nowadays between France, charity projects, her two tabby cats and teaching at the Charles University – her alma mater. She speaks Czech, French, English, German and lives in Prague.

Peter Grk is currently serving as Secretary General of the Bled Strategic Forum and National Coordinator for the Western Balkans at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Slovenia. With 18 years of experience in the diplomatic service, Peter Grk has held posts in Ankara, Copenhagen and Brussels. During Slovenia’s EU Presidency (2008), he served as Chair of the Committee for Civilian Aspects of Crisis Management (CIVCOM). He was also posted to New York (2011) as Political Coordinator at the Permanent Mission of the Republic of Slovenia to the UN and served as an advisor in the Cabinet of the Foreign Minister of Slovenia (2009 to 2011) and as Chief Foreign Policy Advisor to the Prime Minister of Slovenia (2013 to 2014). Peter Grk likes to read, play basketball and discover the world with his family.

Dr. Daniel S. Hamilton is the Austrian Marshall Plan Foundation Distinguished Fellow and Director of the Global Europe Program at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. He is also a faculty member at Johns Hopkins University's School of Advanced International Studies. He has held a variety of senior positions in the U.S. Department of State, including Deputy Assistant Secretary for European Affairs, responsible for OSCE and transatlantic security issues.  

Vít Havelka is a Ph.D. student at the Department of European Studies, Institute of International Relations, Charles University in Prague. Mr. Havelka focuses on institutional relations of the EU and its member states, the EU budget, Europeanisation, and the transformative power of the EU. Since 2016 Vít Havelka was employed as the Political Officer at the Norwegian Embassy in Prague, and from February 2018 he is a Research Fellow at EUROPEUM.

Anna Herold is currently Head of the Audiovisual and Media Policy Unit at the European Commission. She was previously Member of Cabinet of Günther H. Oettinger, European Commissioner responsible for Digital Economy and Society, and subsequently, Budget and HR. Prior to that, she was Assistant to Deputy Director-General of DG Communications Networks, Content and Technology of the European Commission, Roberto Viola. Anna Herold has worked for the European Commission since 2003, dealing with media, audiovisual and telecoms policy as well as competition law. She holds a PhD in Law from the European University Institute in Florence and has written on media law and policy, international trade and competition law.

Viviane Hoffmann is Deputy Director-General for Education, Youth, Sport and Culture in the European Commission, since 2018.  

From  2014 to 2018, she worked as Director in the Commission's Directorate-General for Communication. She previously was Deputy Head of Cabinet of former Commission Vice-President Viviane Reding (Justice, Fundamental Rights and Citizenship). She was also Mrs Reding's Deputy Head of Cabinet during her mandates as European Commissioner for Information Society and Media (2004-2010) and for Education and Culture (1999-2004).

In 1997-1999, Viviane Hoffmann worked as assistant to the Director-General for Health and Consumer Protection in the European Commission. In 1996-1997, she was an assistant to the Secretary-General of the European Commission, after having worked in the Commission's Secretariat-General since 1988. 

Viviane Hoffmann studied political science and international relations at the "Université Libre de Bruxelles". Viviane Hoffmann speaks Luxembourgish, French, German and English.

Mr. Hřib has been the Mayor of Prague since November 2018, representing the Czech Pirate Party. Amongst the officially assigned areas of responsibility for his role are the digitalization of the city administration, IT, interior and external affairs, and foreign affairs. In his office, Mr Hřib focuses on promoting liberal values and strives towards Prague becoming an even more open, progressive, smart, and confident city. Together with the mayors of Budapest, Warsaw and Bratislava, Mr Hřib has ratified the pact of Free Cities. These capitals are declaring a strong unity centred around liberal and progressive values within the central European region.Mr. Hřib graduated from the Faculty of Medicine at Charles University in Prague in the field of General Medicine. He has previously worked in the health sector as a researcher and consultant focusing on improvements in management, digitalisation and IT systems within healthcare. He has published several academic papers and led major projects in this field. Before commencing his mayorship, he was the Pirate Party’s expert in the field of healthcare.

Dr. Christoph Israng is a career diplomat who joined the German Foreign Service in 1997. On 8th August 2017 he presented his letters of credence to the President of the Czech Republic. From July 2014 to July 2017, he represented Germany at the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) in The Hague. Previously, he had served more than eight years on the foreign policy advisory team of Federal Chancellor Dr. Angela Merkel. From 2010 to 2014, he was head of Division 212 (covering Central, Eastern and South-eastern Europe, Caucasus and Central Asia) at the Federal Chancellery in Berlin.

Previous assignments include: several positions in the Federal Foreign Office (among others: NATO division, office of State Secretary Wolfgang Ischinger), foreign policy advisor in the German Bundestag and head of cabinet of the Senior Deputy High Representative (Office of the High Representative (OHR), Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina). He also served at the German Consulates General in Istanbul and St. Petersburg. Prior to his diplomatic career, he worked for international companies such as Lufthansa, McKinsey & Co., Dresdner Bank and Volkswagen de México.

He holds a PhD in economic geography (Dr. rer. nat., University of Bonn) as well as degrees in business administration (Diplom-Kaufmann of WHU, The Koblenz School of Corporate Management, Koblenz / Germany; MBA of The Management School of Lancaster University / UK). He also studied at Georgetown University, Washington, D.C., Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México, Mexico City, and FernUniversität Hagen / Germany.

He served in the German Air Force, where he currently holds the rank of Colonel (res.).
Born 1971 in the city of Ulm / Germany, Christoph Israng grew up in South-Eastern Bavaria.

Magnus Johannesson was the first Director of the Arctic Council Secretariat in Tromsø and assumed his position in January 2013. He led the Arctic Council Secretariat until end of September 2017.  From 2011 to 2013 he chaired the PAME working group of the Arctic Council.

Before joining the Arctic Council Secretariat Mr. Johannesson served as a Secretary General of the Ministry for the Environment and Natural Resources in Iceland from 1992 to 2013 and from 1984 to 1992 he served as the Maritime Director in Iceland. Mr. Johannesson has represented Iceland in various International fora dealing with Safety at Sea, Environmental Protection and Sustainable Development and has chaired a number of international negotiations in these fields in particular in relation to the protection of the Marine Environment.

He holds a Master Degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of Manchester, England.

Jessica Johnson is currently the Communications Director of FORATOM, the European Atomic Forum, which represents the interests of the nuclear industry in Brussels. She has held this position since 2017. Her day-to-day work includes the development of internal & external communications strategies, drafting of press releases, and publications, and cement & concrete promotion. She works with the policy managers to ensure that advocacy and communications go hand in hand for effective lobbying at the EU level. Prior to taking on a new challenge in FORATOM, Jessica worked for 10 years for the Communications Department at CEMBUREAU. She also actively managed The Concrete Initiative, a campaign that was launched in 2014.

Rikard Jozwiak is the Europe editor for Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty (RFE/RL). Jozwiak is responsible for RFE/RL’s daily reporting and coverage from the EU institutions and NATO as well as the latest political developments in Western Europe. Before taking up his editorial position in Prague, he worked as Brussels correspondent for the same media organization for over a decade. Prior to joining RFE/RL, he worked as a reporter for European Voice covering EU affairs. Jozwiak has a Masters in Journalism from the University of Lund, Sweden and a Masters in European Politics from the College of Europe. He speaks English, French, Polish and Swedish.

Tomáš Jungwirth is a Research Fellow of AMO Research Center where he serves as head of the Climate Team. He focuses on challenges related to climate change, migration and asylum, and also follows the developments in the Western Balkans. He graduated from law at Charles University in Prague, and then went on to study Human Rights and Democratization in Sarajevo and Bologna. Recently, he spent six months on a fellowship at the European University Institute in Florence, dealing intensively with climate mitigation and adaptation in transnational context. Tomáš is also project coordinator in the Centre for Transport and Energy. In the past, he worked as a Policy Officer in the Czech Migration Consortium, an analyst in a political party, manager of election campaigns or as a high-school teacher.

Jana graduated in International Relations at Masaryk University in Brno and continues her doctoral studies there with a focus on regional cooperation and Europeanization in the Western Balkans. During her studies, she spent a semester at the University of Bologna and participated in the Summer University at the University of Pristina. In years 2015 to 2017, she worked for the Institute of International Relations in Prague. She worked also for the Agora Central Europe organization, GLOBSEC and the EULEX mission to Kosovo. Her research focuses on regionalism, Visegrad cooperation, democratization, European integration of the Western Balkan countries, and EU enlargement. She has led several international projects dealing with democracy promotion, regional cooperation and European intergation in the Western Balkans.

Martin Kastler is member of the Bavarian CSU and Resident Representative of the Hanns Seidel Foundation for Central Europe. He was elected Member of the European Parliament for the years 2003-2004 and 2008-2014. He worked in private companies and in the field of public affairs. Main experience with Czech policy he gained as international advisor in the foreign affairs department in the Presidential Office of the former Czech President Václav Havel. Before being elected to the European Parliament, he worked as director of the Development policy department and EU projects coordinator of the Hanns Seidel Foundation in Munich. Kastler studied History and Political Science in Erlangen, Germany and in Prague. He is currently also a lecturer at the University of Applied Sciences Ansbach, Bavaria.

Helena König works in the European Commission's Directorate-General for Trade where she is currently the Deputy Director General responsible for Bilateral Relations with Asia, Africa, Caribbean and Pacific, Services and Digital Trade, Investment and Intellectual Property and Trade and Sustainable Development.

From June 2015 to May 2018, Ms König was the Director responsible for trade relations with Asia and Latin America, where she was notably in charge of a number of free trade agreements in the two regions.

From 2007 to June 2015, she was the Head of Unit in the Unit responsible for trade relations with South and Southeast Asia, Australia and New Zealand. The unit was also in charge of the negotiations of FTAs with India and member countries of ASEAN. From 2007 to 2011, Ms König worked as Head of Unit for trade relations with the Far East in the Directorate-General for Trade.

Before joining DG Trade, she was the Deputy Head of Unit of the Southeast Asia Unit in the Directorate-General for External Relations. In this capacity, she worked on the political aspects of EU relations with the ASEAN countries and was in charge of bilateral relations with several of the ASEAN countries.

Tomáš Lindner (39) has been a reporter of the Czech weekly magazine Respekt since 2008 and is currently heading its foreign affairs department. Most often he writes on Germany, social and political changes in Sub-Saharan Africa, geopolitics and issues related to migration. He has written longform reportages from more than 30 countries and is an author of two books: a collection of reportages from southern Africa called "Waiting for the rainy season" (2008) and - together with his collegue Ondrej Kundra - of a book on islamist radicalisation among young Europeans titled "My son, the terrorist" (2017). He is a recipient of a number of journalism awards.

Dr. Gerd Lippold was born in Leipzig in 1961. After his A-level graduation and military service, he studied physics in Leipzig. After his doctorate in the field of semiconductor physics, he worked as a project leader in research and technology development between 1992 and 2000.

He then held several management positions in the industrial sector to start up technology businesses as a founder and managing director. In this quality, he also launched and coordinated broad research and industrial networks.

During the 6th and 7th legislative periods, Dr. Gerd Lippold was a member of the Saxon parliament in the Alliance 90 / The Greens group where he was the speaker for energy and climate policy, and for economy, technology and tourism. In January 2020, he resigned from his parliament seat.

He has been the State Secretary for Energy and Climate Protection since December 2019.

Cristina Lobillo Borrero has a degree on Law and post-graduate courses on Economics, the European Union Law and management and leadership in the ULB (Université Libre de Bruxelles), the Spanish School of Diplomats, the European Commission and Harvard Business School.

Since 2004 she is official in the European Commission where she has worked on Agriculture and Trade policies and from 2014 to 2019 she has been the Head of Cabinet to the ex-Commissioner for Climate Action and Energy, Miguel Arias Cañete. From December 2019 to June 2020, she has been Principal Adviser in DG AGRI and since 16 June, she is Director for Energy Policy in DG ENER in the European Commission.

Before joining the Commission, Cristina worked in the Spanish Administration and in the Universities of Córdoba and Alcalá de Henares.

Edward Lucas is a writer and consultant specialising in European and transatlantic security. His expertise also includes energy, cyber-security, espionage, information warfare and Russian foreign and security policy.

Formerly a senior editor at The Economist, the world’s foremost newsweekly, he is now a senior vice-president at the Center for European Policy Analysis (CEPA). He writes a weekly column in the London Times.

In 2008 he wrote The New Cold War, a prescient account of Vladimir Putin’s Russia, followed in 2011 by Deception, an investigative account of east-west espionage. His latest print book is Cyberphobia. He has also written two e-books on espionage: The Snowden Operation and Spycraft Rebooted. He has contributed to books on religion, on media ethics and on the significance of Andrei Sakharov’s legacy.

His undergraduate degree is from the London School of Economics and he speaks five languages — German, Russian, Polish, Czech and Lithuanian.

In 1990 Claudia Luciani joined the Directorate of Political Affairs, first in the External Relations Department and then as political adviser on South East Europe and minorities. She held a number of positions in the Directorate of Political Affairs including in the field and served as Director of Political Advice and Co-operation for five years. She was appointed Director of ODGP in 2011 and then of Democratic Governance and Diversity. Since 2018 she is the Director of Human Dignity, Equality and Governance with a particular focus on the implementation of the Istanbul and Trafficking Conventions. Claudia’s work on governance focuses on the functioning of institutions, election assistance, civil society and she organises annually the World Forum for Democracy.

Claudia studied philosophy at Trinity College (Washington, DC), graduated in Political Science (University of Padua) holds a specialisation in International Public Law and studied at ENA (Paris).

Eric Maurice joined the Fondation Robert Schuman, a French think-tank on EU affairs, in 2018 after a career in journalism. He was editor in chief of the Brussels-based website EUobserver from 2015 to 2018. He was previously editor in chief of the multilingual pan-European news website Presseurop, from 2009 to 2014. He started his career at the French weekly magazine Courrier international. He holds a master of Contemporary History of International Relations from the Paris Panthéon-Sorbonne University and graduated from the Paris Ecole Supérieure de Journalisme. He is also an alumni from the Executive Course in European Studies of France's Ecole Nationale d’Administration.

Oliver joined The Times as a trainee in 2011 and subsequently worked for the newspaper as an environment reporter and leader writer. From 2015 to 2018 he was The Times' Science Correspondent, concentrating on biomedicine and artificial intelligence. He was named Science Commentator and Young Commentator of the year at the 2018 UK Comment Awards. Last September he moved to Berlin, and now covers northern and central Europe.

Maximilian Müller-Härlin, born 1974 in Munich, is heading the Division for Digitalization and Strategies for the Knowledge-Based Society at the Federal Ministry for Education and Research of Germany since 2018; before, he was Head of the Office of the State Secretary. Prior responsibilities include the Personal Assistance to the Minister of State to the Federal Chancellor, the Commissioner for Migration, Refugees, and Integration. Maximilian studied history, literature, and public law in Freiburg, Strasbourg, and Berlin. His doctoral thesis, “Nation and Europa in Parliamentary Debates on European Integration. Patterns of Identification in Germany, France, and Great Britain after 1950”, was published in 2008. He is married to the art historian Anna Mueller-Haerlin. Together with their three daughters, they live in Berlin. 

Dénes András Nagy is a Hungarian Europeanist. Dénes serves as a Policy Advisor on "Minority SafePack" at the Federal Union of European Nationalities (FUEN). Minority SafePack is the 5th successful European Citizens' Initiative (ECI) in EU history, supported by 1,123,422 EU citizens, which calls for the establishment of an "EU Minority Rights Protection Framework". Additionally, he is a Researcher focusing on ECIs at EUstrat, the Europe Strategy Research Institute of the University of Public Service of Hungary. He was the Co-Founder of Talos, an online civic platform that won the Hungarian national award of the 2019 European Charlemagne Youth Prize. His latest venture is the European Campaign Playbook, a networking platform for campaigners in Europe. 

Filip Nerad is EU and NATO affairs analyst at the Czech Radio. He graduated in history at Charles University, Prague and worked as foreign correspondent of the Czech News Agency in Germany and of the Czech Radio in Brussels and the Benelux. He is also a book author. He wrote books Búrská válka (2004) and The Beer Kingdom of Belgium. Beer and more through the eyes of Czech Radio foreign correspondent (2019 in Czech, 2020 in English).

Claudia Olsson is the Founder and Chair of Stellar Capacity a global education company specialized in professional development related to digital transformation. Her work focuses on the impact of new technologies on citizens, society, leadership and global markets. As a member of the High Level Industrial Roundtable "Industry 2030" at the European Commission, Claudia co-authored the vision for Industry 2030 for the European Union. Claudia has also served on the Future Council on Values, Ethics and Innovation as well as in the Europe Policy Group at the World Economic Forum. She currently serves on the steering board of the Software Development Academy and on the advisory board of Sweden's nationwide initiative Digital@Idag (Digital Today).

Claudia has served as an Associate Faculty at Singularity University as well as a Senior Advisor to the Office of Strategic Analysis at the Ministry for Foreign Affairs in Sweden. She previously set up and managed the policy think-tank ACCESS Health International in Singapore, following her work for ACCESS in India and her assignment with the United Nations, Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) in the USA. Claudia has been appointed a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum as well as a David Rockefeller Fellow at the Trilateral Commission and has been selected as one of the 40 under 40 European Young Leaders by Friends of Europe. Claudia authored the Sweden 2030 scenario for the Digitalization Commission of the Government of Sweden and has also co-authored the report "Blockchain-decentralized trust".

Leading expert in corporate finance and fund management. Having previously worked in consulting, in 2016 she became an advisor to the Minister of Economic Development. Responsible for management of the State's innovative projects portfolio, she spearheaded the MinFinTech programme as well as the creation of the Lektury.gov.pl portal. In 2017 appointed an Advisor to the Prime Minister on Innovation Policy and Finance. Since the Programme's establishment in April 2018, serving as Head of the GovTech Poland Programme - Poland's largest initiative aimed at bringing and implementing the innovation and digital revolution to the Public Sector.  
Appointed to Prime Minister’s High Representative for Government Technology in March 2020

Urmas Paet has been a Member of the European Parliament as of November 2014. He specializes in foreign and security policy issues. He is the Vice-Chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee, a member in the Security and Defence Committee and a substitute member in the International Trade Committee. Mr Paet is also the Chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee Working Group on Eastern Partnership. He is the rapporteur of the European Defence Union Report, the EU Arctic Policy Report and the Cyber Defence Report. Before joining the European Parliament, Urmas Paet was the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Estonia for almost ten years. Urmas Paet has also served as a Minister of Culture and as the Head of the Nõmme City district in Tallinn.

Andris Pelšs is the State Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Latvia. Previously he served as the Political Director at the Under-Secretary of State of the Ministry and Ambassador-Representative to the Political and Security Committee at the Permanent Representation of the Republic of Latvia to the European Union.

Danielle Piatkiewicz is a research fellow at EUROPEUM focusing on issues around Transatlantic and Central and Eastern European security, NATO and Eastern Partnership. She is also an independent consultant for the Alliance of Democracies Foundation. Previously, she was a senior program coordinator for The German Marshall Fund of the United States’ (GMF) Asia and the Future of Geopolitics programs (Washington, DC) and she worked on various leadership development projects including the Young Professionals Summit at GMF’s flagship event, the Brussels Forum among others. Before that, she worked as a program assistant in GMF’s Wider Atlantic program in Brussels and a program intern in Warsaw. Before joining GMF, she worked for the European Institute of Peace in Brussels (EIP). She holds an M.A. in international and political studies with a concentration in transatlantic studies from Jagiellonian University in Krakow, Poland.

Tonino Picula is a Croatian politician who has been a Member of the European Parliament since 2013, twice with the highest number of preferential votes. He had previously served as Minister of Foreign Affairs of Croatia, Member of the Croatian parliament, and as Mayor of Velika Gorica. In the current mandate, he serves as European parliament standing rapporteur for relations with the United States, Montenegro, IPA III Pre-accession financial instrument, and European parliament recommendation on the enlargement that were adopted in June 2020. He is also an S&D group coordinator and spokesperson for foreign affairs and the chair of the European Parliament working group for Western Balkans.

Philippe Pochet is General Director of the European Trade Union Institute (ETUI), Professor at the Université Catholique de Louvain (UCL) and associated researcher at the Interuniversity Research Centre on Globalization and Work (CRIMT, Montreal). Prior to becoming Director of the ETUI in 2008, he was Director of the Observatoire social européen (OSE) for 16 years.

He is now working on the issues of impact of climate change and digitalisation on jobs and seeking how to combine the analysis of the big trends. Previously he had other temporary positions, such as invited Professor at the College of Bruges and invited scholar at the Faculté Universitaire Saint-Louis (FUSL), adjunct professor and visiting scholar at Griffith University (Brisbane). He was also visiting scholar at Berkeley University, at Montréal University, at the Max-Planck-Institut für Gesellschaftsforschung (Cologne), and at the Centre for European Studies, Harvard University, Cambridge (USA). In 2005, he was awarded an EU Fulbright-in-Residence grant at the University of Wisconsin-Madison (USA).

Geneviève Pons is an honorary Director of the European Commission (EC). She was in charge of environmental and climate matters in Jacques Delors’ Cabinet during his last two mandates as President of the EC (1991-1995). She then held several management positions in the EC. She was appointed Director of the Legal Service of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) in 2013 and Director of the European Office of WWF in June 2015. From November 2017 until December 2019, she headed the Brussels office of the Jacques Delors Institute. In January 2020, she was appointed as the head of Europe Jacques Delors AISBL, the latest of a family of think tanks perpetuating Jacques Delors’ European vision. She is a graduate from the Sorbonne, Sciences-Po Paris and ENA.

She is Knight of the Légion d’honneur.

Dr Janez Potočnik (1958) graduated from the Faculty of Economics at the University of Ljubljana(PhD in 1993). After holding several positions in the Slovenian Ministries, he joined the European Commission, in 2004, as Shadow Commissioner for Enlargement. He was then Commissioner responsible for Science and Research and Commissioner for Environment. In November 2014, he was appointed member and Co-Chair of the International Resource Panel which is hosted by United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). In the same month, he was also appointed as a Chairman of The Forum for the Future of Agriculture and RISE Foundation and as a Member of the European Policy Centre’s Advisory Council. He is a partner in SYSTEMIQ and from 2019 also President of ThinkForest. This year (2020) he was appointed as s Special Advisor to the EU Commissioner for Environment, Oceans and Fisheries, Virginijus Sinkevičius

A diplomat from Belgium, Bruno Pozzi brings 20 years of experience in high-level diplomacy and politics, across three different continents and in various political and economic roles. He is a strong advocate of multilateralism and of the need to put environment at the center of political action.

Prior to joining UN Environment Programme, Bruno was appointed in 2015 as the Deputy Head of the Delegation of the European Union to Kenya, one of the largest diplomatic representations of the European Union abroad. Coming from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Belgium, he joined the newly created European External Action Service in 2011 and served as the Head of the Political Section of the European Union Delegation to Ivory Coast until 2015. He started his career at the Institute for International and Strategic Relations of the Free University of Brussels before joining the Belgian Ministry of Foreign Affairs in October 1999. He has served in Belgian Embassies to Japan, China, and South Africa.

He holds a degree in Political Sciences (Catholic University of Louvain) and a Master's Degree in European Politics (Free University of Brussels)

Ingeborg Radok Žádná is a Vice-Rector for International Relations and Artistic Activity of The Academy of Performing Arts in Prague (AMU). Žádná lectures at Music and Dance Faculty (HAMU). She is also a member of the council of Association Européenne des Conservatoires, Académies de Musique et Musikhochschulen (AEC). In 2003, she received the Order of Arts and Letters, awarded by the Government of France.

Ulrike Rabmer-Koller is the owner and CEO of “Rabmer Group” - an internationally operating company active in the fields of construction and environmental technology, such as trenchless pipe rehabilitation, water and wastewater technology and renewable energies. She has gathered extensive experience in international business development and in providing innovative solutions for climate protection.  

She engages herself also on the European level. From 2016 – 2019, she served as President of SMEunited, representing 24 million SMEs in Europe. In this capacity, she also participated in the regular EU Social Partner Summits with the Head of the EU Commission and the EU Council. From 2011 until 2015, she was Vice-President of SMEunited and Chair of the Sustainable Development Committee. Since 2020, she is again active in these two functions. In June 2017, she attended the meeting of the G7 environment ministers in Bologna as EU representative and, together with other company representatives, worked out positions for better integration of ecology and economy. In December 2017, she was appointed to the High-Level Roundtable "Industry 2030", where she developed proposals for the European Industry Strategy 2030 together with 19 other experts from across Europe. In 2018, she was nominated to represent the EU in the "G20 Business Women Leader Task Force". 

Corina Rebegeais CEPA's Director for Democratic Resilience, leading the center's programming on the future of democratic governance and disinformation. Her expertise includes democracy and rule of law issues, good governance, and public sector leadership, as well as transatlantic security cooperation and the Black Sea security. Rebegea has extensive experience in the non-profit sector and has led rule of law and justice reform focused projects in the Western Balkans and South East Europe. She has also led research projects focusing on good governance, regional security, and countering disinformation.

A former Fulbright and Open Society Institute Scholar, Rebegea holds an MPA degree from Syracuse University, an MA in Human Rights from the University of Manchester, and a BA in Political Science from the University of Bucharest.

Kristian Ruby is a widely recognised expert with a strong communication profile and extensive experience in political affairs.  He joined  Eurelectric from  Wind  Europe, where he served as  Chief  Policy  Officer and was in charge of development and implementation of the political strategy.  Prior to this, Ruby worked as a journalist and served seven years as a public servant in the Danish Ministries of Environment, and Climate and Energy and in the European Commission in the cabinet of the former Climate Action chief, Connie Hedegaard.

Kristian holds a master degree in history and international development. 

Aura Salla is Head of EU Affairs for Facebook, based in Brussels, Belgium. In her role Aura oversees Facebook's engagement on EU policies with the European Institutions and Member States.

Before joining the Facebook, Aura was working in the European Commission as a Foreign Policy and Communications Adviser in the European Political Strategy Centre (EPSC), in-house think thank, to President Jean-Claude Juncker.

Previously she served as a Member of Cabinet of Jyrki Katainen, European Commission Vice President responsible for Jobs, Growth, Investment and Competitiveness. Before joining the Commission, she worked in consultancy company Recommended Finland as a Project Manager specialising in Public Affairs and EU Communications and before that as a speechwriter and political adviser in the Finnish Parliament. She also served 2018-2020 for a two as a Chairwoman of the Party Council of the Coalition Party Finland / the EPP.

Aura holds a Master's degree in Political Science from the University of Turku Finland where she continued to her PhD studies in 2017. She has also studied Economics of the European Union in the University of Leipzig, Germany and has been visiting lecturer on European economics at Harvard University. Since 2017 Aura has been a research fellow in the Circular Economy Research Center at École des Ponts Business School Paris. She is also a member of the board of the European Movement International.

Marietje Schaake is International Policy Director at Stanford University Cyber Policy Center and International Policy Fellow at Stanford Institute for Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence (HAI). She is the President of the Cyber Peace Institute.

Between 2009 and 2019, Marietje served as a Member of European Parliament for the Dutch Liberal Democratic Party where she focused on trade, foreign affairs and technology policies.

Marietje is affiliated with a number of non-profits including the European Council on Foreign Relations and the Observer Research Foundation in India and writes a monthly column for the Financial Times and a bi-weekly column for the Dutch NRC newspaper.  
 

Michal Simecka is Member of European Parliament and Vice-Chair of the Renew Europe Group, and member of the civil liberties (LIBE) and foreign affairs (AFET) committees. He is also Vice-Chair of Progressive Slovakia, a liberal political party in Slovakia. Previously he was Senior Researcher at the Institute of International Relations in Prague and adviser to Czech minister of foreign affairs. He also served as an advisor to Members of the European Parliament. He holds a D.Phil (PhD) in Politics and International Relatations from Nuffield College, University of Oxford. His academic research focused on the politics of EU neighbourhood, EU institutional affairs and external action, and foreign policies of Central European countries.

Member of the European Parliament (EPP Group, CZ - KDU-ČSL) since 2014, currently serving in the Committee on Culture and Education (EPP Coordinator) and in the Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development. During 2010-2014 Ms Šojdrová worked as Director of Department of External Relations at the Czech School Inspection and as Representative of the Ministry for Education, Youth and Sports to the OECD. Between 1996-2010 Michaela Šojdrová served as Member of Parliament of the Czech Republic representing Christian democrats (KDU-ČSL), holding the position of Vice-Chair of the Committee for Science, Education, Culture, Youth and Sports.

Michaela Šojdrová has been awarded French “Order of Merit” for significant contribution to the Czech-French relations. Her life-long activities include various youth programmes such as scouting, volunteering, education and protection of children rights

Tom Steyer left his successful investing business to give his own money, time, and energy to fighting for progressive causes. He soon became one of the country's leading forces in registering more young voters and voters of color, fighting climate change, working for racial justice, and helping secure better lives for all Americans. From founding voter mobilization organization NextGen America to spearheading impeachment with Need to Impeach, Tom has led a number of people-first, grassroots campaigns that have repeatedly defeated powerful special interests. Tom has mobilized grassroots efforts to beat big oil to win clean air laws, force big tobacco to pay its share of healthcare costs and close a billion-dollar corporate tax loophole to fund public schools. Most recently, Tom was a former Democratic presidential candidate and now serves as co-chair for Governor Newsom's Business and Jobs Recovery Task Force. He also co-chairs Vice President Biden's Climate Engagement Advisory Council to help mobilize climate voters in November." 

Tanja Strniša is the Ambassador of Slovenia to the Czech Republic. Previously, she served as the State-Secretary at the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Food of Slovenia. Before that, she worked at various positions at the ministry and in Government Office for European Affairs.

Nilgün Tas is the Deputy Director of the Department of Environment, UNIDO, and the Chief for the Industrial Resource Efficiency Division. She also leads UNIDO’s cross-departmental team for circular economy. As a private sector development specialist with over 30 years of experience, Nilgünheld various positions as Chief for Competitiveness, Business Environment and Industrial Upgrading, Chairperson of the Gender Mainstreaming Steering Committee, UNIDO Representative in Vietnam and Chief/Senior Technical Advisor for UNIDO,and in projects for UNDP, OECD and TIKA since 1996.

Previously, Nilgünwas the Vice President of the Small and Medium Enterprise Development Administration (KOSGEB) in Turkey; a founder and Board Member for the Turkish Credit Guarantee Fund Company (KGF), and a founding team member of the Turkish International Cooperation Agency (TIKA). In her capacity as Projects and Programmes Coordinator of TIKA, she deployed funding for technical assistance projects for partners and helped set up the OECD Ankara Tax Training and the Istanbul Private Sector Development Centers. She holds B.Sc. and M.Sc. degrees in engineering and an MBA.

Teija Tiilikainen is the Director of the European Centre of Excellence for Countering Hybrid Threats. Previously, she was the Director of the Finnish Institute of International Affairs (2010-2019) and has been the Director of the Network of European Studies at the University of Helsinki (2003-2009). 

She has also served as Secretary of State at the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland from 2007 to 2008. She was a member of the European Convention in 2002-03 and a member of the Panel of Eminent Persons on European Security as a Common Project led by Ambassador Wolfgang Ischinger in 2015-16. In 2018, Dr Tiilikainen was nominated part-time professor (non-residential) at the European University Institute (School of Transnational Governance) in Florence. She is currently the vice-chair of the executive board of the University of Helsinki. 

In her research, Dr Tiilikainen has focused on issues related to European integration (institutional questions, the EU’s external relations, including Common Foreign and Security Policy and Common Security and Defence Policy) and on European security policy. 

Saskia Van Uffelen has been working in the sector of information and communication technology (ICT) for over 25 years. She has held national and international sales and marketing functions in leading companies such as Xerox, Compaq, HP, Arinso, Bull and Ericsson.

As Corporate Vice President for the French ICT group GFI, she oversees the development of the BeNeLux region for the group.

Martina Vetrovcova is a PhD candidate in Political Science at Heidelberg University, Germany, and the founder and President of Momentum Novum, a social enterprise that strives to foster sustainable development. Her areas of research include Central and Eastern Europe, international migration, nexus between climate change and migration, and sustainable development, as well as diverse foreign and security policy issues. Martina currently works as the personal assistant to the Vice-Rector for Student Affairs and Teaching at Heidelberg University and lectures at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology. For many years, she volunteered at the National Model United Nations • New York (NMUN•NY), serving, among others, as the Under-Secretary-General for the Human Rights and Humanitarian Affairs Department and for the Peace and Security Department. Martina is a Future European Leaders Forum alumna and a Climate Reality Leader trained by Al Gore.

Anna Wieslander is Director for Northern Europe at the Atlantic Council and concurrently serves as Secretary General of the Swedish Defence Association. She is also the Chairman of the Institute for Security and Development Policy (ISDP) in Stockholm, and a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of War Sciences. 

Anna Wieslander was previously Deputy Director at the Swedish Institute of International Affairs (UI). She has held positions as Head of the Speaker’s Office in the Swedish Parliament, Secretary of the Swedish Defence Commission and Deputy Director of the Swedish Defence Ministry. She has also served as Communications Director in the private sector. 

Aneta Zachová is Editor-in-Chief of EURACTIV.cz, an online medium followed by EU and national policy professionals. Within her editorial work, she is covering climate and energy policies. She is PhD candidate in International Relations and European Politics at Masaryk University in Brno, her dissertation focuses on the European Union in the times of crises. She graduated from International Relations at Masaryk University and also holds a Bachelor’s degree in Media Studies and Journalism.

Pavel Zámyslický is a Director of the Energy and Climate Protection Department at the Ministry of the Environment of the Czech Republic. After graduation at the University of Technology in Brno and the Czech Technical University in Prague (Economics and Energy management) he finished his PhD studies (Business management and Economics). In 2005 he joined the Ministry of the Environment and become the director of Climate Change Department in 2007. Since 2011 he has been leading the newly transformed Department of Energy and Climate Protection at the same ministry. In his professional career he has been mainly focused on European and Czech climate and energy policies, strategies and legislation, including carbon pricing and EU ETS. More than one decade he serves as a chief negotiator for the Czech Republic within the international (UNFCCC/Paris Agreement) and EU agendas related to climate policy.

Linda is the Founder and CEO of ISFC, overseeing the strategic development of the think-tank and its work on sustainable investing. Linda is currently a Fellow at the Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA) in London, and until recently she was Think Visegrad Fellow at the EUROPEUM Institute for European Policy, providing expertise on sustainable finance. Linda is also the 2021 Policy Leader Fellow at the European University Institute's (EUI) School of Transnational Governance, looking at the EU financing of just transitions.
Previously, Linda was Director at RE-DEFINE, a boutique think-tank and consultancy in London, where she focused on sustainable finance (including climate and carbon stress tests, EU taxonomy, and ESG investing), and the interaction between the mega-trends of sustainability and digitalization. In the past, Linda has worked as an adviser and speechwriter for a number of prominent European policymakers, and for several years she actively participated in the European Youth Parliament (EYP) network in a variety of roles.  She has been honored as a New Security Leader by the Warsaw Security Forum and as a Future European Leader by Prague European Summit. Linda is an alumna of the University of Glasgow, McGill University, and the London School of Economics.