PROFILE OF SPEAKERS
Monica BALDI
Monica Baldi, architect and urban planner, is Grand Officer of Merit of the Italian Republic. Deputy and Secretary of the Commission for Foreign and Community Affairs at the Chamber of Deputies from 2001 to 2006. MEP and Deputy President of the Committee for Culture, Youth, Education, Media and Sport from 1994 to 1999. She is Vice President of the European Parliament Former Members Association (FMA) and of ARS PACE.
Baldi was Vice President of the Red Cross of Pistoia and President of the associations: Pinocchio di Carlo Lorenzini, Pinocchioworld, Laurus and Professional Cycling Groups League. She is speaker and promoter of conferences on: international politics, cooperation and development, culture, urban planning, environment. She has always been committed to the defence of Human Rights and in particular for the Rights of Women.
Enrique BARÓN CRESPO
Enrique Barón Crespo is lawyer and economist. He held the roles of constituent deputy at the Congress of Deputies, Minister of Transports, of Tourism and Communication during the first Gonzales Government. He became President of the European Parliament in 1989 and President of FMA in 2014. He fluently speaks seven languages and he is today President of “Unión de Europeístas y Federalistas de España (UEF Spain)”. He is President of several cultural organizations, which are the “Fundación Yehudi Menuhin España” (FYME)”, “Ars Pace” and “Legado Gandarias”. Barón Crespo is also Vice-President of the “Fundación Gala-Salvador Dalí” and Chancellor of the “United Nations University for Peace”. In 2020, he was awarded with the Honoris Causa Degree from the University of Sevilla.
Elmar BROK
Elmar Brok is a German politician (Christian Democratic Union of Germany) and Member the FMA Reflection Group on the Future of the EU. He was first elected at the European Parliament in 1980 joining the Group of the European People’s Party. He held many different positions in the European Parliament such as the Chair of the Committee on Foreign Affairs between 1999 and 2007 and 2012-2017. He was also Member of the Committee on Constitutional Affairs (2014 – 2019) and of the Delegation for relations with India (2014 – 2019). His mandate at the European Parliament ended in 2019.
Renaud DEHOUSSE
Renaud Dehousse has been President of the European University Institute since 1 September 2016. Prior to this, Dehousse was a Professor and holder of the Jean Monnet Chair of European Law and Policy Studies at Sciences Po Paris, where he founded and directed the Centre for European Studies. He chaired Sciences Po’s Board from 2013 to 2016. After studying law at the University of Liège, he obtained a doctorate at the European University Institute. He was a visiting professor at the Universities of Florence (Cesare Alfieri), Cologne, Rome (LUISS), Lausanne, the College of Europe and at the Law School of the University of Michigan. He was a scientific advisor to the centre for study and research founded by Jacques Delors, Notre Europe and Member of several working parties on the reform of European Institutions established by the European Institutions and national governments. His research has covered multiple aspects of European law and politics. He is a member of the Academia Europaea.
Mikuláš DZURINDA
Mikuláš Dzurinda is the President of the Wilfried Martens Centre for European Studies (WMCES). He is the former Prime Minister of Slovakia (1998-2006) and has held various positions in government since first entering politics in 1990. Once he became Prime Minister and formed a coalition government in 1998, Dzurinda introduced far-reaching reforms which have enabled Slovakia to begin the process of joining the EU and NATO, a process which he actively took part in from the beginning. Since Slovakia gained independence in 1993, Dzurinda has also held the position of Minister of Transportation and more recently that of Minister for Foreign Affairs (2010-2012). He is a Founding Member of the Slovak Democratic and Christian Union – Democratic Party and was Chairman of the party from 2000 to 2012. From 2012 to 2016 he was a Member of the Slovak Parliament. In 2007 he was awarded the F.A. Hayek International Prize for reforms and fight against bureaucracy.
Franca Maria FEISEL
Franca Maria Feisel is a second-year PhD researcher at the Law Department at the EUI. Her research focuses on the EU’s legitimation and means for engaging in democratic self-defence. She is an alumna of European Studies at Maastricht University and holds an LLM in EU Law from Edinburgh Law School. Next to her studies, she did traineeships in political communication, the German Foreign Office and in the Cabinet of EU Justice Commissioner Reynders. Feisel is also a co-coordinator of the EUI researcher-led civic engagement initiative “Ponte Europa – Bridging Academia and Civil Society”, with a special focus on engaging young people in discussions on European topics.
Monica FRASSONI
Monica Frassoni is an Italian politician (Federation of the Greens) and Member of the FMA Reflection Group on the Future of the EU. She was first elected at the European Parliament in 1999 joining the Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance. She held the Co-Chair from 2002 to 2009. She was Member of the Delegation to the EU-Cyprus Joint Parliamentary Committee (1999 – 2002), of the Committee on Legal Affairs (2004 – 2009), of the Delegation for relations with Mercosur (2004 – 2009) and of the Delegation to the Euro-Latin American Parliamentary Assembly (2007 – 2009). Her mandate at the European Parliament ended in 2009.
Genowefa GRABOWSKA
Genowefa Grabowska is a Polish politician (Social Democracy of Poland) and Member of the FMA Reflection Group on the Future of the EU. She was first elected at the European Parliament in 2003 joining the Group of the Party of European Socialists. She was first a Member of the Committee on Legal Affairs and the Internal Market in 2004, before joining the Committee on Constitutional Affairs and working as a Quaestor from 2004 to 2007. She was Member of the Delegation to the ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly from 2004 to 2009. Her mandate at the European Parliament ended in 2009.
Dirk HOLEMANS
Dirk Holemans is the Co-President of the Green European Foundation (GEF) and the Coordinator of Oikos, the Flemish green Think Tank for social-ecological change. He has previously been Member of Parliament (Flanders) and city councilor (Ghent) for the green party. He is also editor-in-chief of Oikos’ eponymous journal. His main interests are ecological economy, green cities and political ecology. He recently published “Freedom & Society. Towards a social-ecological society”.
Maria JOAO RODRIGUES
Maria Joao Rodrigues is the President of the Foundation for European Progressive Studies (FEPS). Former Portuguese Minister of Employment in Portugal of PM Antonio Guterres, she has a large track in different European institutions: EU Presidencies, Council, European Council, European Commission and European Parliament where she was Vice-President of S&D Group, in charge of the general coordination and interface with the other EU institutions. She played a relevant role in important European initiatives as: the Lisbon Treaty, the Lisbon and the Europe 2020 strategy (the EU’s agenda for growth and jobs), the Eurozone reform, the interface with EU strategic partners, the roadmap for EU’s future and the European Pillar of Social Rights. She was also the Chair of the European Commission Advisory Board for socio-economic sciences.
Alain LAMASSOURE
Alain Lamassoure is a French politician (Independents) and Member of the FMA Reflection Group on the Future of the EU. He was first elected at the European Parliament in 1989. He joined then the Liberal and Democratic Reformist Group before changing in 1991 to the Group of the European People’s Party. He held the Chair of the Committee on Budgetary Control from 1992 to 1993, of the Committee on Budgets from 2009 to 2014 and of the Special Committee on Tax Rulings and Other Measures Similar in Nature or Effect from 2015 to 2016. His mandate at the European Parliament ended in 2019.
Roberta METSOLA
Roberta Metsola is a Maltese politician and has been President of the European Parliament since 18 January 2022, becoming the youngest ever person to occupy this role. She is a lawyer by profession, specialising in European law and politics. In 2002, she was appointed as Secretary-General for the European Democrat Student organisation. She was first elected as Member of the European Parliament for Malta and Gozo in 2013 and was then re-elected in 2014 and 2019. She is also the Head of the Partit Nazzjonalista (PN) Delegation within the European People’s Party Group in the European Parliament. She worked for the Permanent Representation of Malta to the European Union. Following this, she worked for the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy. On 12 November 2020, Roberta Metsola was elected as the First Vice-President of the European Parliament.
Hans-Gert PÖTTERING
Hans-Gert Pöttering is President of the European Parliament Former Members Association and Chair of the FMA Reflection Group on the Future of the EU. He is a German politician (CDU) and was the only Member of the European Parliament who has served continuously from the first direct election in 1979 until 2014 – with 35 years of uninterrupted membership. He held a number of leading positions in the EP and European People’s Party throughout his political career. From 1999 to 2007 he was Chairman of the European People’s Party-European Democrats Group in the European Parliament. From 2007 until 2009 he was President of the European Parliament. He is the President of the Museum “The House of European History” which was opened in Brussels in 2017. He was Chairman of the Konrad Adenauer Stiftung (KAS) from 2010 to 2018. He is co-author of the FMA publication “Overcoming the Pandemic”, realised in collaboration with Women 20 and the support of the Historical Archives of the European Union.
Anna RAVONI
Anna Ravoni is the Mayor of Fiesole. From a very young age she approached the world of politics, attending the Circolo Arci Pian di Mugnone, feeling a deep-rooted sense of community. She entered politics also thanks to her uncle, who was part of the Factory Council of the Nuovo Pignone, and he often discussed topics pertaining to this sphere. After being part of the PCI and then of the Left Democrats, she continued her political path within the Democratic Party. In 2009 she founded “Cittadini per Fiesole“, a civic list made up of citizens, with which she ran for the administrative elections of the same year. She was elected Mayor in 2014 and was then reconfirmed in May 2019.
Teresa RIERA MADURELL
Teresa Riera Madurell is Honorary Secretary in the Management Committee of the European Parliament Former Members Association (FMA). She is a Spanish politician, University Professor and Chair of the Science Policy Advisors Board of the Barcelona Supercompunting Center (BSC-CNS). She was Professor of Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence at the University of the Balearic Islands. She was member of the Parliament of the Balearic Islands (1987-1996). Member of the Spanish Congress (1996-2004). Member of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly (2000-2004): Vice President of the Committee for Science and Technology and general rapporteur. She was a MEP from 2004 to 2014: Member of the parliamentary Committee on Industry, Research and Energy; rapporteur for the Framework Program for Research and Innovation “Horizon 2020”, managing to reach a final agreement by strengthening the European research and innovation system with particular support for scientists and researchers. Member of the EC RISE-Advisory Group of Commissioner for Research, Innovation and Science, CarlosMoedas (2014-2019). She is co-author of the FMA publication “Overcoming the Pandemic”, realised in collaboration with Women 20 and the support of the Historical Archives of the European Union.
Dieter SCHLENKER
Dieter Schlenker is the Director of the Historical Archives of the European Union and Co-Director of the Alcide De Gasperi Research Centre at the European University Institute in Florence, Italy. Prior to taking this post in 2013, he worked for UNESCO, first as an archivist at the Paris Headquarters, then as Head of the Information and Knowledge Management Unit in Bangkok, Thailand. Previously, he worked as Records Manager at Ford Company European Headquarters in Cologne and at FAO Headquarters in Rome. He is co-author of the FMA publication “Overcoming the Pandemic”, realised in collaboration with Women 20 and the support of the Historical Archives of the European Union.
Alexander STUBB
Alexander Stubb is the EUI Director of the School of Transnational Governance as of 1 May 2020. He has served as Prime Minister, Finance Minister, Foreign Minister, Trade and Europe Minister of Finland (2008-2016). He was a Member of the European Parliament from 2004 to 2008 and national parliament (2011-2017). He was the Chairman of the Finnish National Coalition Party (Kokoomus) from 2014 to 2016 and Vice President of the European Investment Bank (EIB) from 2017 to 2020. He worked as an advisor at the Finnish Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Helsinki and Brussels and in President Romano Prodi’s team at the European Commission (1995-2004). He was involved in the negotiation of the Treaties of Amsterdam, Nice and Lisbon. Between 2000 and 2007, he was a visiting Professor at the College of Europe in Bruges. Stubb has written numerous books and academic articles on European affairs and publishes columns for several newspapers, including the Financial Times, on a regular basis.
Steven VAN HECKE
Steven Van Hecke is a political scientist and associate Professor in Comparative and EU Politics at the KU Leuven Public Governance Institute where he is also the Chairman of the Wilfried Martens Fund since 2014. He is the Academic Support of the FMA Reflection Group on the Future of the EU.
He studied philosophy and political science at the universities of Leuven (Belgium) and Hull (UK) and obtained a PhD in social sciences. He is currently also President of the KU Leuven KADOC, a Documentation and Research Centre on Religion, Culture and Society, since 2017 and Chairman of the KU Leuven Metaforum working group ‘Futuring Europe’ since 2018. His research agenda is at the intersection of comparative politics, EU studies and political history.
Hilde VAUTMANS
Hilde Vautmans is a Belgian politician and the President of the European Liberal Forum (ELF). She is part of the liberal-centrist Renew Europe Group, the successor to the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE). She had the opportunity to work in the Belgian Senate for the then liberal senators, Valère Vautmans, Stef Goris and Guy Verhofstadt, whom she advised as a reporter for the Rwanda Commission in 1997. She was elected as MEP in 2015 and in Europe, her focus is mainly on foreign policy, defence, migration, agriculture and human rights with an emphasis on children’s and women’s rights.