Digital Platforms Summit

Leanda Barrington-Leach is the Executive Director at 5Rights. Leanda joined 5Rights from the European External Action Service where she was Adviser to the Secretary General focusing on Strategic Communications and the fight against Disinformation. She previously worked in EU advocacy as a consultant and for non-profits, always with a focus on human rights. Leanda volunteers as an Adviser to Plan International, supporting their work on children’s rights in EU foreign policy.

Sally Broughton Micova is a CERRE Academic Co-Director and an Associate Professor in Communications Policy and Politics at the University of East Anglia (UEA). She is also a member of UEA’s Centre for Competition Policy.

Her research focuses on media and communications policy in Europe.

She completed her PhD in the Department of Media and Communications at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), after which she was an LSE Teaching and Research Fellow in Media Governance and Policy and Deputy Director of the LSE Media Policy Project.

Miriam Buiten is a CERRE Research Fellow and Assistant Professor of Law and Economics at the University of St.Gallen, Switzerland. She leads a research team on “Platform Governance”, funded by the University of St.Gallen Basic Research Fund. Her research focuses on the legal issues surrounding new technologies and artificial intelligence and the role of competition law in regulating the digital economy.

Previously, Miriam was a Junior Professor of Law and Economics at the University of Mannheim. She has been involved in several policy studies for the European Commission and the Dutch government on topics such as the role of online intermediaries in the ecommerce sector and mechanisms to reduce regulatory burdens.

Chiara Caccinelli is Deputy Head of the Economic Analysis and Digital Affairs Unit at Arcep (the French regulator for electronic communications, postal and print media distribution services) and Co-chair of the Digital Markets WG at BEREC. From 2019 to 2022 she co-chaired BEREC’s Market and Economic Analysis WG. Before joining Arcep and BEREC, Chiara was Deputy to the Director of the Governance and Regulation Programme and the Club of Regulators in Paris (2015-2019), and simultaneously carried out academic research on economic and competition challenges in the digital economy. Previously, she was Programme Manager and Research Associate at the Florence School of Regulation (European University Institute, 2011-2015) and Analyst and Consultant in European Affairs in Milan and Brussels (2009-2010). Chiara holds an MSc in Economics of Network Industries and Digital Economy from Paris Dauphine University – PSL, and an MA in European Affairs from the University of Perugia.

Natalie Cohen heads up the Regulatory Governance for Global Challenges unit within the Governance Directorate at the OECD. Prior to joining the OECD she spent over 12 years as a policy professional at national level, 9 of which were for the UK government and the last 3 of which were for the French Government, as a Franco-British national. Her expertise includes the “better regulation” policy toolkit, legislative delivery and implementing modernisation or simplification projects. She spent the early part of her career at AXA UK after graduating with a Master of Arts from the University of Oxford.

Axel Desmedt is the President of the Belgian Competition Authority since 1 March 2024.

Before that, he was a member of the BIPT Council (the Belgian telecoms and postal regulator) for 14 years (two consecutive mandates), where he respectively lead the spectrum, telecoms & media, consumer and postal market services, in addition to the legal and HR services. He led several spectrum auctions in Belgium and introduced some several ground-breaking regulatory projects, such as the first successful cable access regulation in Europe. During his tenures Axel Desmedt helped preparing a number of major legislative reforms in both the postal and telecoms sectors which were adopted by the Government and Parliament. He oversaw some of the major economic and administrative disputes both for the BIPT and the Belgian State in the telecoms and postal sectors.

Axel Desmedt started as a lawyer at the Brussels Bar practicing for more than eight years in two different law firms, where he specialised mainly in EU competition and WTO law. He then joined a major European telecommunications group in-house as a Senior Legal Council and Deputy Director for the group’s permanent representation to the EU.

Axel Desmedt lectured as a visiting professor at UCL (2015-2020) and KUL (2020-2021). He was the co-founder and editor of the Tijdschrift voor het recht van netwerkindustrieën/ Revue du droit des indsutries de réseau. Since 2023, Axel Desmedt is a Fellow of the Free University of Brussels (VUB), where he graduated in law in 1996. He also holds an LLM from the University of Michigan (Ann Arbor, USA).

As the International Affairs Director at Coimisiún na Meán, the media and online safety regulator in Ireland, Maria leads its programme of international engagement, overseeing relationships with European and global institutions. She represents an Coimisiún on the full range of online platform and media regulatory and policy questions. Prior to her current role, she worked for six years as the Head of International Content Policy at the UK’s Communications regulator, Ofcom where, among other things, she was responsible for Ofcom’s input into the negotiations on the 2018 AVMS Directive and its response to the original consultations on the Digital Services Act. She served as a member of the Board of the European Platform of Regulatory Authorities (EPRA) from 2018-2024 and has worked extensively as an expert member of Council of Europe working groups, developing recommendations on media policy, including chairing the Council of Europe Committee of Experts on Media Environment and Reform.

Previously, Maria worked in advertising regulation and as a radio producer for the BBC World Service. She has a Bachelors Degree in Modern Languages from Cambridge University and a Masters Degree in Literary Translation.

A Swiss and Canadian national, Daniel Friedlaender has been working in public affairs and policy for over 20 years. He holds an MA in European Political and Administrative Studies from the College of Europe, as well as an executive MBA from Imperial College, focusing on digital innovation and platform convergence.

Daniel Friedlaender started as a political staffer in Canada prior to moving to Europe, first working in strategic communications before representing the global recording industry.

In 2016 he was hired to open and lead the new office of the Sky Group (later part of Comcast) in Brussels. As Head of the EU Office and Sky’s European Affairs Director, Daniel Friedlaender worked across the creative, cultural, telecoms, and technology sectors. In this role, he also chaired the European VoD Coalition and sat on the board of the Association of Commercial Television, as well as many other organisations.

Educated as a lawyer in Germany, Martin gained a Master Degree in EU law and European business regulation from the University of Oxford before starting his career in the media, digital and telecoms sectors.

During his time in the Commission, Martin has been advising on many matters linked with the Digital Single Market, both from a regulatory as well as a policy development side, including on telecommunications regulation, the digital transformation of Europe’s industry, the Artificial Intelligence Act, and the Commission’s Digital and Data Strategies. Most recently, Martin joined the Commission’s Directorate in charge of implementing and enforcing the Digital Services Act (DSA) where he leads, as the Head of Sector, the team on the protection of minors, one of the key enforcement priorities under the DSA.

Before joining the European Commission in 2010, Martin worked as a legal consultant to a major, internationally active telecommunications and digital services provider in London and as a senior legal adviser for the UK’s telecoms, media and broadcasting regulator, Ofc

Michèle Ledger is a researcher at the CRIDS research centre of the University of Namur where she also lectures on the regulatory aspects of online platforms at the postmaster degree course (DTIC). She has been working for more than 20 years at Cullen International and leads the company’s Media regulatory intelligence service.

Carolina Lorenzon, International Affairs Director at Mediaset, heads its parent company MFE’s Brussels Office. MFE-MediaforEurope N.V. consolidates the Groups’ activities within the EU, with extensive broadcast, content production and advertsing operations in Italy and Spain. Carolina is at present Chair of the Board at ACT (Association of Commercial Televisions and VOD services in Europe) member of the General Council at CRTV (Confindustria Radio Televisioni, the Italian Association of public and private broadcasters) and Board Member at GII – Gruppo d’Iniziativa Italiana – a cross-sector gathering of Italian companies represented in Brussels.

She graduated in Communication/International Affairs (Pepperdine University, Los Angeles) with a senior thesis on “Low Earth Orbit satellites for the development of telecommunication infrastructure in Least Developed Countries”, and holds a master’s degree in Economics and Global Policy (Università Cattolica, Milano).

Aurélien is in charge of public policy in Europe for the Internet privacy company and search engine DuckDuckGo. In his role, he advances the company’s vision to raise the standard of trust online by working towards a fairer and easier access to simple privacy protections. Prior to joining DuckDuckGo, Aurélien was a consultant at APCO Worldwide, advising technology companies on EU policies and engagement.

Karen McAuley is Director of Policy for Children and Vulnerable Adults in Coimisiún na Meán, Ireland’s agency for developing and regulating a thriving, diverse, creative, safe, and trusted media landscape. Karen has worked in the field of children’s rights for over 20 years, most recently as Head of Policy with Ireland’s Ombudsman for Children’s Office (2017-2023). Her career has included a focus on children’s participation, human rights education, and child rights-based approaches to developments in law and public policy. Karen holds a BA in English and German from Trinity College Dublin, and an MA in European Literature and a DPhil from the University of Cambridge.

Giorgio Monti is a CERRE Research Fellow and Professor of Competition Law at Tilburg Law School.

He began his career in the UK (Leicester 1993-2001 and London School of Economics (2001-2010) before taking up the Chair in competition law at the European University Institute in Florence, Italy (2010-2019). While at the EUI he helped establish the Florence Competition Program which carries out research and training for judges and executives. He also served as Head of the Law Department at the EUI.

His principal field of research is competition law, a subject he enjoys tackling from an economic and a policy perspective.

Together with Damian Chalmers and Gareth Davies he is a co-author of European Union Law: Text and Materials (4th ed, Cambridge University Press, 2019), one of the major texts on the subject. He is one of the editors of the Common Market Law Review.

Leo Rees works on global competition issues at Epic Games. He previously led policy and product strategy at consultancy Milltown Partners advising a range of tech companies and investors. Until assuming his current role, Leo was a fellow at UK think tank Onward, co-authoring a paper on a national data strategy with Downing Street chief of staff Will Tanner. He was also commissioned to write on venture capital and innovation policy by the European Commission.

Dr. Raymond de Rooij studied Applied Physics at Eindhoven University of Technology and finished his PhD at the University of Twente. Since 2021 he has been working as a Team Manager at the Competition Directorate of the Authority for Consumers and Markets (ACM). In this role he is responsible for the oversight on digital markets. Raymond started his career at Unilever Research. After obtaining an MBA degree at Rotterdam School of Management he switched to the ACM in 2002, where he worked as a project leader in antitrust and energy regulation

Audrey is Vice-President Government Affairs at Qualcomm. Audrey’s main activities focus on Technology and Geopolitics in Europe. She oversees strategic public policy files and advocacy efforts and is leading policy engagement with EU institutions in Brussels.

Audrey is former Vice-Chair of the Amcham EU Intellectual Property Rights Committee and is Board member of the European Internet Forum. Audrey joined Qualcomm in 2014 after having worked in the public and private sectors for over 12 years and returned to Qualcomm in mid-2020 after having led the European Commission team at Google. Initially working for the French government’s European Affairs Service, advising the Prime Minister’s office, the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Culture and Communication,

Audrey had led the Government Affairs team of BlackBerry in Brussels for 5 years. She holds postgraduate degrees in European and International Law from La Sorbonne, and in International Relations from the University of Pantheon-Assas, Paris. She also completed the Executive Management Acceleration Program of INSEAD. Audrey is based out of Brussels, and had previously lived in Toronto, Paris, Fort-de-France, Abidjan, and Djibouti. Audrey has a seven-year-old daughter and enjoys spending time with her English bulldogs, her Pomanese and her cat. She is a big fan of martial arts and has just started training for boxing.

Tim Stok is Tencent’s Director of Public Affairs for the Europe, Middle East & Africa region. Tencent is a leading global technology and entertainment company focused on connecting people and developing innovative products and services that improve the quality of life of people around the world. Prior to Tencent, Tim held public affairs roles in Europe, at pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca and data analytics firm RELX, focusing on Intellectual Property, technology, healthcare, research and digital files. Tim started his career as a civil servant for the Dutch government in The Hague and Brussel

Alexandre de Streel is the Academic Director of the digital research programme at the Brussels think-tank Centre on Regulation in Europe (CERRE), professor of European law at the University of Namur and visiting professor at the College of Europe (Bruges) and SciencesPo Paris. He sits in the scientific committees of the Knight-Georgetown Institute (US), the European University Institute-Centre for a Digital Society (Italy) and the Mannheim Centre for Competition and Innovation (Germany).

His main research areas are regulation and competition policy in the digital economy (telecommunications, platforms and data) as well as the legal issues raised by the developments of artificial intelligence. He regularly advises the European Union and international organisations on digital regulation.

Previously, Alexandre held visiting positions at New York University Law School, the European University Institute in Florence, Panthéon-Assas (Singapore campus), Barcelona Graduate School of Economics and the University of Louvain. He also worked for the Belgian Deputy Prime Minister, the Belgian Permanent Representation to the European Union, and the European Commission. He has also been the chair of the expert group on the online platform economy, advising the European Commission.

Athina has followed closely the drafting of the Digital Services Act, the negotiations with the Council and the European Parliament and now the enforcement of the newly established rules. She has a legal background with studies in European law in Greece, Belgium and the United Kingdom. Previously she worked in the European Commission on matters related to the freedom to provide services cross-border and freedom of establishment.

Vanessa is Senior Advisor – Competition at The European Consumer Organisation, BEUC.

Vanessa focusses on ensuring that consumer interests are taken into account in European competition policy, in particular in Digital Markets and Sustainability and in key merger, antitrust and DMA enforcement cases before the Commission and EU Courts. Since September 2020 Vanessa also acts as a non-governmental advisor to the International Competition Network for the European Commission.

Prior to joining BEUC, Vanessa was a Partner in the Competition Practice of Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and Allen & Overy in Brussels (as well as in London and Düsseldorf). In between these roles, she was a Member of the Cabinet of the Commissioner for Competition Policy at the European Commission (responsible for mergers and antitrust cases and policy), Special Advisor to the US FTC in Washington DC, and General Counsel, Company Secretary and Executive Vice President at Visa Europe.

Thibaud Vergé was appointed Vice-President of the Autorité de la Concurrence on 27 December 2022. A graduate of Ecole Polytechnique and with a PhD in economics from Toulouse School of Economics, he has spent most of his career in academia, firstly in the United Kingdom from 2000 to 2005 (Bristol, Southampton) and then at CREST / ENSAE Paris (from 2005 to 2010 and from 2013 to 2022). Between February 2010 and May 2013, he was Chief Economist at the Autorité de la Concurrence.

In 2012 and 2013, he was president of the Association of Competition Economics, which facilitates exchanges between competition economists (competition authorities’ employees, economic consultants and academics). He was a member of the European Commission’s Economic Advisory Group for Competition Policy from 2020 to 2024.