PROFILE OF SPEAKERS
Professor Natalia CUGLESAN
Grant director of the Jean Monnet Module: Digital teaching and learning in the field of EU Integration Studies in the new member states/ D-skills, 2020-2023
Natalia Cugleşan is a lecturer at the Department of International Studies and Contemporary History. Faculty of History and Philosophy, Babeş-Bolyai University. She teaches courses at the undergraduate and graduate level in the field of European Studies(European Union Policies, Multi-level governance in the EU, etc.) Her research interests are linked to European governance and EU Policies. Dr.Cugleşan currently leads the Jean Monnet Module Digital teaching and learning in the field of EU Integration Studies in the new member states( D-skills)and has recently published: Romania and the European Union, Oxford Encyclopedia of European Politics(2020).
Mariya GABRIEL
Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth
Mariya Gabriel is the European Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education, Youth and Sport. Under her leadership, the new Horizon Europe, Erasmus+, and the cultural strand of Creative Europe programmes (2021-2027) will be defined and implemented.
Her main priorities are excellence in research, innovation and education (ERA, EEA, EIA); tackling the R&I divide in Europe; Europe as a leader in strategic innovation areas through the digital and green transition, with a particular attention for young people and regions. “No one left behind” and “Think out of the box” are her mottos.
Between 2017 and 2019, Mariya Gabriel was European Commissioner for Digital Economy and Society. She proposed the new Digital Europe programme, worked on EU Strategy on AI, disinformation online, cybersecurity and launched the EuroHPC strategy. She has extensively engaged with external EU partners to enhance digital cooperation, in particular with the Western Balkans and Africa.
She was elected as Member of the European Parliament (MEP) in 2009, 2014 and 2019. Mariya Gabriel is First Vice-President of the European People’s Party (EPP), and, since 2012, Vice-President of EPP Women.
Commissioner Gabriel is a board member of the United Nations youth programme Generation Unlimited (GenU). She has been ranked among the 50 most influential women in Europe in the field of cybersecurity by the leading European cybersecurity magazine SC Media UK (2019).
Mariya Gabriel is also known for her involvement in the fight for gender equality. Among others, she received the prestigious Italian prize “Golden Apple” for highest achievements for women. At the European Parliament, she was awarded twice “MEP of the year” – in 2016 for the Development category, and in 2013 for the Gender Equality category.
In November 2020, Commissioner Gabriel received the Annual Award of the Vienna Economic Forum “Partner of the Year 2020” for contribution to the economic development, rewarding Ms Gabriel’s vision of a European knowledge strategy comprising the European Education Area, the European Research Area and the new Digital Education Action Plan.
She holds a Master’s degree in political sciences and international relations from the Institute of Political Studies (Bordeaux, FR) and a Bachelor’s degree in Bulgarian and French Languages from “Paisii Hilendarski” University (Plovdiv, BG). She also graduated from “Dr.Petar Beron” Language High School (Kyustendil, BG).
Michael HINDLEY
FMA Board member and moderator of the event
Michael Hindley is the director of the EP to Campus Programme and member of the Management Committee of the Former Members Association. He has been a member of the European Parliament from 1984 to 1999. He was Vice-President of the External Economic Affairs Committee with Parliamentary responsibilities for scrutiny of the entire range of EU external bilateral and multilateral relations from 1989 to 1999. He has been expert for European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) 2008-2020. He is a Former Associate Professor at Georgetown University of the MBA Programme ‘Government Business Relations in the age of globalization’, as well as Former lecturer of ‘European Studies’ at Lancaster University, London School of Economics (LSE), University of California (Berkeley) and Taras Shevchenko University (Kiev). He is Election observer for the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (EESC) and guest lecturer for “EP to Campus” programme in Germany, India, Romania, Bulgaria, Estonia, Russia and Malta.
Federica MOGHERINI
Rector of the College of Europe
Federica Mogherini is the Rector of the College of Europe since September 2020.
She has co-chaired the United Nations High Level Panel on Internal Displacement from January 2020 until September 2021.
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).
Hans-Gert PÖTTERING
President of the FMA and Former President of the European Parliament
Hans-Gert Pöttering is a German politician (CDU) and was the longest serving member of the European Parliament (EP) since its first direct election in 1979. His mandate ended on July 1st 2014 – after 35 years of uninterrupted membership. Dr. Pöttering 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 served as President of the European Parliament. He initiated the House of European History which was opened in Brussels in May 2017.
Dr. Pöttering has published widely on various issues of European affairs. His autobiography titled “Wir sind zu unserem Glück vereint – Mein europäischer Weg” (2014) has been translated into various languages.
He is currently the President of the European Parliament Former Members Association (FMA).
He was chairman of the Konrad Adenauer Stiftung (KAS) from 1.1.2010-1.1.2018. Now he is Representative for European affairs on behalf of the KAS.
Marc Arwed RUTKE
Coordinator & Supervisor EMJMD Programme „Euroculture – Society, Politics and Culture in a Global Context“ Institute of Political Science @ Georg-August-Universität Göttingen
Marc Arwed Rutke is Coordinator and Supervisor of the EMJMD Programme „Euroculture – Society, Politics and Culture in a Global Context“ at Georg-August-Universität Göttingen, Germany. He holds a Dipl. from the ACG Senior College of New Zealand in Auckland, New Zealand; a B.A. Hons. in Politics & International Relations from the University of Essex in Colchester, UK and a M.A. in International Relations (with distinction) from Queen´s University in Kingston (Ontario), Canada. Prior to joining the Euroculture Programme, he worked for different organisations in Japan, Thailand and Namibia. Since 2013, Marc Arwed Rutke is also the project leader of the DAAD/German Foreign Ministry (AA) project “Euroculture: Europe in the Wider World” and senior reseacher in the project “EUinDepth: European Identity, Cultural Diversity and Political Change” of the European Community. Through this cooperation with the DAAD, he has worked with institutions in Mumbai, New Delhi, Pune and Krasnodar. Through his work at the University, he has represented Euroculture at institutions in Spain, Italy, Sweden, Belgium, Belarus, Russia, the UK, Lithuania, Japan, India, Luxembourg, Mexico, Ukraine, Portugal, South Africa and the US. Marc Arwed Rutke is also part of the European Studies IP Steering Committee.
Professor Vlad VERNYGORA
Lecturer in International Relations Department of Law School of Business and Governance Tallinn University of Technology – Estonia
Vlad Vernygora is a DSocSc candidate at the University of Lapland (Finland), Vice-Rector for International Affairs at Khazar University (Azerbaijan), and and lecturer in International Relations at the Department of Law, Tallinn University of Technology (Estonia). Vlad is Honorary Consul of Fiji in Estonia. His research interests include contemporary political empires, strategic communication, Europe’s as well as NATO’ interactions with the Asia-Pacific, the EU and its neighbourhood, and the Belt and Road Initiative. In 2014-2017, Vlad Vernygora has been managing the operational side of the NATO Science for Peace and Security Programme Project ‘NATO Global Perceptions – Views from the Asia-Pacific Region’. Vlad holds Tallinn University of Technology’s Teaching Award of 2015 and a short-listed nomination for Estonian University Teaching Award in 2016. For years, Vlad has been actively cooperating with the EP to Campus Programme, effectively engaging it with a number of his academic courses.