The future of EEAG in times of the EU Green Deal: continuity or disruption?

Bruno Liebhaberg is Executive Chairman of the think tank Centre on Regulation in Europe (CERRE) which he founded in 2010.

From 2018 to 2021, he was also the first Chairman of the European Union Observatory on the Online Platform Economy. He is also an Honorary Professor at the Université Libre de Bruxelles’ Solvay Brussels School of Economics and Management (SBS-EM ULB) where he taught from 1979 to 2018. Earlier in his career, he advised former European Commission President Jacques Delors on industry and R&D matters related to the completion of the EU Single Market.

He holds a Master’s in management sciences from SBS-EM ULB and a Ph.D. in Industrial Relations from the London School of Economics and Political Science.

¹Also representing B.LIEBHABERG S.A., Director General

²Member of the Strategic Committee

Olivier Guersent graduated with distinction from the “Institut d’Etudes Politiques de Bordeaux” in 1983. He joined the French Ministry of Economy and Finance in 1984, where he carried out many investigations for the French Competition Authority.

He joined the European Commission in 1992, initially with the “Merger Task Force” in the Directorate-General for Competition. Since then, he has alternated between the private offices of a number of European Commissioners (Karel Van Miert, Michel Barnier and Neelie
Kroes) and DG Competition (successively Deputy Head of Unit in charge of cartels, Head of Unit in charge of policy and coordination of cases, Head of Unit in charge of merger control, Acting Director “Transport, postal and other services” and, from 2009, Director responsible
for the fight against cartels). From 2010 to 2014 he was the head of the private office of Michel Barnier, Commissioner for Internal Market and Services. Having held the position of Deputy Director-General since July 2014, Olivier Guersent has been Director-General of the
Directorate-General for Financial Stability, Financial Services and Capital Markets Union from 1 September 2015 to 31 December 2019. As of 1st January 2020 he is the Director General of the Directorate General for Competition.

Catherine Banet (PhD) is Professor of Law at the University of Oslo, and Head of the Department for Energy and Resources Law, Norway. Her legal research activities focus on energy market design, energy transport infrastructures regulation, support schemes and financing models, focusing on renewable energy and notably offshore wind, climate change mitigation measures such as carbon capture and storage (CCS), and hydrogen regulation.

Prof. Banet has a background from the private law practice (Norway, France), the European Commission (DG ENV), U.S. diplomatic mission and academia. She is a member of the Academic Advisory Group of the Section on Energy, Environment and Infrastructure Law of the IBA, and Chair of the Board of the Norwegian Energy Law Association.

Professor Sean Ennis is an economist, author, and expert. He focuses on company behaviour, competition, and regulation.

Sean Ennis is Professor of Competition Policy and Director of the Centre for Competition Policy at the University of East Anglia.

Previously, he was a Senior Economist in the Competition Division of the OECD. Prior to that, he has served as an Executive Director of the Competition Commission of Mauritius, as an Economist at the European Commission’s DG Competition and at the U.S. Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division.

Over the years, Sean Ennis has published research studies and reports published by economic journals and submitted to the European Parliament, the G20, the OECD and the World Bank. He has co-authored reports for regulatory and government agencies in Australia, Greece, Mexico, Romania, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

He received a BA (Hons) in Economics from King’s College, Cambridge and a PhD in Economics from the University of California at Berkeley.

Jose Luis Buendía Sierra obtained his PhD, and previously his degree in Law, at the University of Zaragoza, Spain. He also has a Master in European Legal Studies from the College of Europe (Bruges, Belgium).

Jose Luis is currently Partner at Garrigues and leads the Brussels office of this law firm, where he regularly works in State aid and antitrust cases. He is acknowledged as one of Europe’s top experts on State aid law. Chambers & Partners ranks him in Band 1 for State aid.

He previously worked at the European Commission (State aid team of the Legal Service, DG Competition, Internal Market and Cabinet of Commissioner Oreja) intensively advising and litigating for the Institution in areas such as State aid.

He is currently visiting professor of State aid Law at King’s College London and he has also been visiting lecturer of Competition Policy at Vrije Universiteit Brussels.

José Luis Buendía has taken part in a many international legal conferences. He regularly publishes on State aid and other competition matters. Among its publications special mention has to be done to its book ‘Exclusive Rights and State Monopolies under EC Law’ (Oxford University Press, 2000). He is currently co-managing editor of the Journal European State aid Law Quarterly (EStAL) and has been co-editor of the book “Milestones in State Aid Case Law” (Lexxion, 2018).

Máximo Miccinilli* was Director, Energy & Climate at the Centre on Regulation in Europe (CERRE), leading the think tank’s research and activities related to energy and climate.

He was previously leading the public affairs and communications activities of European Aluminium where he managed international campaigns on energy and climate matters. 

Prior to this, he was a manager in the energy and climate practice at Burson-Marsteller Brussels (now BCW), a leading global PA and PR agency. 

Earlier in his career, he worked for the Italian Ministry of European Affairs and the European Commission on single market and external policies. 

He holds a MA in European Law from the College of Europe (Bruges) and a MBA in Business and Finances from the Solvay Business School (Brussels).

*Representing One Policy Lab SRL

Clara Poletti is Commissioner of the Italian Regulatory Authority for Energy, Networks and the Environment (ARERA), Chair of the Board of Regulators of the European Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators (ACER) and ARERA delegate at the Council of European Energy Regulators (CEER).

She has more than twenty years of experience in the field. As far back as 1997, she contributed to the start-up of the Italian independent energy regulator. Since then, she has worked on the regulation of energy, water and waste management services at both national and European levels.

From 2007 to 2011, she was Director of the Bocconi University Research Centre on Energy and Environment (IEFE). She was also a founding joint academic director at the Centre on Regulation in Europe (CERRE). She is a member of the Advisory Council Executive Committee of the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) and associate researcher of the Cambridge Energy Policy Research Group.

She is the author of numerous scientific articles.

¹Member of the Strategic Committee

Dr Susanne Rompel is Vice President of Political Affairs at E.ON. She has extensive experience in European energy policy and the energy sector.

Prior to her current role Dr Rompel led the EU Representative offices of innogy and RWE. Before that she headed Strategic Planning at RWE, where she was responsible for the Group’s strategy development. She also served as a member of the Supervisory Boards for RWE Supply & Trading and RWE GBS.

Early in her career, Susanne Rompel gained experience in the Directorate General for Energy of the European Commission.

She holds a Master’s Degree in European Politics and Administration from the College of Europe in Bruges and a PhD in EU Energy Policy from Heidelberg University. Prior to this she studied Politics, Law and French in Heidelberg and Aix-en-Provence.