Vice-President Maroš Šefčovic & Michael Ellis
Stefano Sannino & Sam Fleming
Nathalie Loiseau, Sir Oliver Heald & Georgina Wright
Richard Szostak, Raoul Ruparel, Sam Lowe & Andrew Bounds
Michael Clauss & Stefanie Bolzen
Kelly Beaver MBE & Suzanne Lynch
Making a success of the EU-UK relationship is critical to both sides. Although the ‘transition period’ following the UK’s departure from the EU ended in December 2020, the last eighteen months have shown there is still a great deal of work to be done. Much ‘unfinished business’ in the Trade and Cooperation Agreement has still to be dealt with satisfactorily and the debate is now only starting on the nature of future EU-UK relations.
The EU-UK Forum’s 2022 annual conference will build on the work of last year’s inaugural event and explore the potential opportunities and pitfalls in pursuing constructive engagement and cooperation.
Maroš Šefčovič is the European Commission’s Vice-President for Energy Union, a position he has held since November 1, 2014. He was elected as a Member of the European Parliament in May 2014.
Before that he was the Commission’s Vice President for Inter-Institutional Relations and Administration from 2010 to 2014, and Commissioner for Education, Training, Culture and Youth from 2009 to 2010. Šefčovič was Slovakia’s Permanent Representative to the EU from 2000 to 2009. Previously, he was Director-General in the European affairs section of Slovakia’s foreign Ministry in 2003 and has served as Slovakia’s Ambassador to Israel in 1999.
He has a PhD in international and European law from Comenius University in Bratislava. He also studied at Stanford University, USA.
Maroš Šefčovič
Vice-President, Interinstitutional Relations & Foresight
European Commission
The Rt Hon Michael Ellis QC MP was appointed Minister for the Cabinet Office on 8 February 2022. He remains Paymaster General which he was appointed on 16 September 2021.
He was Solicitor General from 26 July 2019 to 2 March 2021, and re-appointed to that role from 10 September 2021 to 15 September 2021. He was Attorney General from 2 March 2021 to 10 September 2021 while Suella Braverman was designated as a Minister on Leave.
He was previously Minister of State at the Department for Transport from 23 May 2019 to 25 July 2019. He was Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport from January 2018 to May 2019.
He was Deputy Leader of the House of Commons from 17 July 2016 to 8 January 2018.
He was elected Conservative MP for Northampton North in May 2010.
Michael Ellis
Paymaster General
Minister for the Cabinet Office, UK
Kelly Beaver is Managing Director of Ipsos MORI Public Affairs, a team of over 250 social research and evaluation professionals based in London, Manchester, Edinburgh and Belfast. The Public Affairs team provides robust research and analysis to help clients across every area of government policy determine what works in achieving social and economic policy objectives.
Kelly joined Ipsos MORI in 2011 following on from her roles at PwC within the Research, Strategy and Policy Group and The Evaluation Partnership (subsequently Coffey International Development). Kelly has served as one of four Directors who lead the professional body for evaluators in the UK (UKES) between 2011-2017.
As a skilled professional evaluator Kelly has directed multidisciplinary teams in advising local, regional, national and international government bodies and agencies on policy design, implementation and reviews.
Kelly Beaver MBE
Chief Executive, UK and Ireland
Ipsos
Bio to appear here soon
Stefanie Bolzen
UK & Ireland Correspondent
Welt & Welt am Sonntag
Andrew Bounds is EU correspondent of the Financial Times covering Brexit, trade, agriculture and health policies since October 2021, as well as the Netherlands. It is his second stint in Brussels after working there 2004-8. He was North of England and Enterprise editor between 2008-21. He covered the “Northern powerhouse” and the Brexit vote in the UK.
He has worked for the FT since 1997 after starting in local newspapers and was Central America correspondent 2000-2.
He has a degree in International History and Politics from the University of Leeds, UK.
Andrew Bounds
EU Correspondent, FT
Bio coming soon
Michael Clauss
Permanent Representative of Germany to the EU
Sam Fleming is Brussels Bureau Chief at the Financial Times. He has held the post since August 2019, after moving from Washington DC where he was US Economics Editor for the FT for nearly five years, covering the Federal Reserve System, US Treasury, and US economic policy. He previously worked as the newspaper’s Financial Policy Correspondent in London, covering financial regulation for the FT, where he started in October 2013.
Mr. Fleming worked as Economics Editor for The Times of London from 2010 and 2013. Between 2006 and 2010 he was Associate City Editor and Economics Correspondent for the Daily Mail newspaper, also in London. He started his work in journalism at Bloomberg in 2001, where he covered industry, the stock market and latterly economics until 2005.
Between 1997 and 2000 Mr. Fleming worked at Slaughter and May, a London-based corporate law firm, qualifying as a solicitor in mergers and acquisitions in 1999. He studied law at the College of Law, London, from 1994 to 1996. His university degree was at Pembroke College, Cambridge, where he graduated in 1994. He was born in London in 1973.
Sam Fleming
Brussels Bureau Chief
FT
Sir Oliver Heald QC is the Conservative MP for North East Hertfordshire.
Oliver studied law at Pembroke College, Cambridge and practised as a barrister before entering the House of Commons in 1992.
Oliver has served in the Governments of 3 Prime Ministers as Pensions Minister, Courts and Justice Minister and Solicitor-General. As a Justice Minister he attended EU Justice and Home Affairs Councils. In the Shadow Cabinet, his briefs included Constitutional Affairs and Shadow Leader of the House of Commons. He is a Privy Councillor.
He served on the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, where he was Vice-Chair of the Rules Committee, served on the sub-committee on Judges and was representative to GRECO. He has also served on the UK Committee on Standards in Public Life.
He supported Remain in the European Referendum.
In January 2022, he was appointed by the Prime Minister as Co-chair of the UK-EU Parliamentary Partnership Assembly. The other Co-chair is Nathalie Loiseau MEP. From January 2021, he had been the House of Commons Lead in setting up the Assembly with Lord Kinnoull acting on behalf of the House of Lords.
Sir Oliver Heald
Joint chair of the TCA Parliamentary Partnership Assembly
Nathalie Loiseau is the chair of the sub-committee on Security and Defense (SEDE) and of the European Parliament’s delegation to the EU-UK Parliamentary Partnership Assembly. She is also a member of the committees on Foreign Affairs (AFET) and on Foreign Interference in electoral processes, including disinformation (INGE).She led the Renaissance list during the 2019 European elections.
Minister for European Affairs in the French government from 2017 to 2019, she was the dean of the École nationale d’Administration (ENA) for five years, from 2012 to 2017, and diplomat within the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
She studied at the Paris Institute of Political Studies (IEP) and at the National Institute for Oriental Languages and Civilizations (INALCO).
She is the author of an essay on women’s rights, “Choisissez Tout” and of two comic books, “La Démocratie en BD” and “L’Europe en BD”.
Nathalie Loiseau
Joint chair of the TCA Parliamentary Partnership Assembly
Sam heads the trade and market access practice at Flint Global. In addition, he is a senior visiting research fellow at The Policy Institute, Kings College London, and writes the weekly Substack trade newsletter, Most Favoured Nation.
Sam was previously a member of the UK government’s Strategic Trade Advisory Group (2019-2020) and has held positions as a senior advisor to the Blakeney Group, a senior research fellow at the Centre for European Reform, and the Brexit and trade lead for the environmental charity, Friends of the Earth. Sam regularly appears in the broadcast and print media.
Sam Lowe
Director of Trade Policy
Flint Global
Suzanne Lynch is the co-author of Brussels Playbook, Politico’s flagship morning newsletter. Prior to joining Politico, she worked as a foreign correspondent and finance reporter for the Irish Times. She covered US politics, including the tumultuous Trump years, as Washington Correspondent for the Irish Times between 2017 and 2021.
She was previously European Correspondent, based in Brussels, where she led coverage of the euro zone crisis, Brexit and the refugee crisis. She has also written extensively on financial and arts issues, and is a regular contributor to international TV and radio platforms.
She holds a BA from University College Dublin and a PhD in English Literature from Cambridge University.
Suzanne Lynch
Co-author of POLITICO Brussels Playbook
POLITICO
Bio will appear here soon…
Raoul Ruparel
Adviser, Deloitte, Former Adviser to HMG on Brexit
Mr Stefano Sannino is the Secretary-General of the European External Action Service (EEAS) of the European Union since 1 January 2021. He held the post of the Deputy Secretary General for Economic and Global Issues at the EEAS from April 2020 to December 2020.
From March 2016 to April 2020 he was Ambassador of Italy to Spain and Andorra. From July 2013 until March 2016 he held the position of Permanent Representative of Italy to the EU in Brussels.
After a period at the Cabinet of the President of the Commission (from 2002 to 2004) he joined the Directorate General for External Relations as Director for Crisis Management and Representative at PSC (2004-2006), then Director for Latin America (2008-2009) and finally as Deputy Director General for Asia and Latin America (2009-2010).
In 2010 he moved to the Directorate General for Enlargement as Deputy Director General and later as Director General, a position he held until June 2013.
From 2006 to 2008 he was the Diplomatic Advisor to the Italian Prime Minister and his Personal Representative to G8 summits. He has also held the position of Ambassador and Head of the OSCE Mission in Belgrade from 2001 to 2002 and within the Italian Diplomatic Service: Deputy Head of Mission of the Italian Embassy in Belgrade (1994-1996), Head of the Secretariat of the Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs (1996-1998), Diplomatic Advisor and Head of the Cabinet of the Minister of Foreign Trade (1998-2001).
Mr Sannino is fluent in Spanish, English and French beyond his native Italian.
Stefano Sannino
Secretary General
EEAS
Bio will appear soon…
Richard Szostak
Director, Western European Partners (Acting), European Commission
Georgina Wright is head of Institut Montaigne’s Europe Program. She is also a Visiting Fellow at the German Marshall Fund of the United States, associate of the Institute for Government in London and Senior Fellow at the Centre for Britain and Europe at the University of Surrey.
Before joining Institut Montaigne, she was senior researcher at the Institute for Government (2019-2020) and research associate at Chatham House (2014-2018). She has also worked for the European Commission and NATO in Brussels.
Georgina regularly represents Institut Montaigne on national and international news media, and has written widely for foreign policy outlets. She studied at the University of Edinburgh and the College of Europe (Bruges).
Recent publications: 2021 – A pivotal year ahead for ‘Global Britain’ (The Foreign Policy Centre, December 2020) ; In the Aftermath of Brexit, What Can ‘Global Britain’ Be? (with Ben Judah, World Politics Review, October 2020); No, Brussels is not misreading the UK’s threats of no deal (Prospect Magazine, August 2020); The EU’s recovery package does not signal the advent of an EU superstate (Institute for Government, July 2020) ; Implementing Brexit: securing more time (Institute for Government, May 2020) ; France in the Future of the EU: new perspectives (UK in a Changing Europe, March 2020) ; Implementing Brexit: the role of the joint committee (Institute for Government, March 2020) ; Influencing the EU after Brexit (Institute for Government, January 2020) ; Getting Brexit Done: What happens now? (Institute for Government, January 2020) ; Sorry Boris, the EU will respond to new ideas, not to a no-deal threat (Independent, July 2019); A bumpy road ahead: What these election results mean for Europe (Prospect Magazine, May 2019) ; There is little reason for the PM to attend the Munich Security Conference (Prospect Magazine, February 2019) ; Negotiating Brexit: Preparing for talks on the UK’s future relationship with the EU (Institute for Government, April 2019); Theresa May should learn to speak European (The Times, July 2018)
Georgina Wright
Head of Europe Program
Institut Montaigne
Paul Adamson is chairman of Forum Europe and Forum Global and founder of Encompass (previously E!Sharp), an online magazine and discussion space dedicated to covering the European Union and Europe’s place in the world.
Paul is a member of the Centre for European Reform’s advisory board and Rand Europe’s Council of Advisors. He is also a Visiting Professor at the Policy Institute, King’s College London, a Senior Adviser at the Atlantic Council’s Future Europe Initiative and a Senior Fellow at the Centre for Britain and Europe at the University of Surrey. He is a patron of the University Association of Contemporary European Studies (UACES) and a Fellow of the UK Academy of Social Sciences.
In 2012, Paul was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) “for services to promoting understanding of the European Union” and in 2016 he was made a Chevalier in the Ordre national du Mérite by the French government.
Paul Adamson
Chairman
EU|UK Forum
***Times are in CEST***
Paul Adamson is chairman of Forum Europe and Forum Global and founder of Encompass (previously E!Sharp), an online magazine and discussion space dedicated to covering the European Union and Europe’s place in the world.
Paul is a member of the Centre for European Reform’s advisory board and Rand Europe’s Council of Advisors. He is also a Visiting Professor at the Policy Institute, King’s College London, a Senior Adviser at the Atlantic Council’s Future Europe Initiative and a Senior Fellow at the Centre for Britain and Europe at the University of Surrey. He is a patron of the University Association of Contemporary European Studies (UACES) and a Fellow of the UK Academy of Social Sciences.
In 2012, Paul was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) “for services to promoting understanding of the European Union” and in 2016 he was made a Chevalier in the Ordre national du Mérite by the French government.
Maroš Šefčovič is the European Commission’s Vice-President for Energy Union, a position he has held since November 1, 2014. He was elected as a Member of the European Parliament in May 2014. Before that he was the Commission’s Vice President for Inter-Institutional Relations and Administration from 2010 to 2014, and Commissioner for Education, Training, Culture and Youth from 2009 to 2010. Šefčovič was Slovakia’s Permanent Representative to the EU from 2000 to 2009. Previously, he was Director-General in the European affairs section of Slovakia’s foreign Ministry in 2003 and has served as Slovakia’s Ambassador to Israel in 1999. He has a PhD in international and European law from Comenius University in Bratislava. He also studied at Stanford University, USA.
The Rt Hon Michael Ellis QC MP was appointed Minister for the Cabinet Office on 8 February 2022. He remains Paymaster General which he was appointed on 16 September 2021.
He was Solicitor General from 26 July 2019 to 2 March 2021, and re-appointed to that role from 10 September 2021 to 15 September 2021. He was Attorney General from 2 March 2021 to 10 September 2021 while Suella Braverman was designated as a Minister on Leave.
He was previously Minister of State at the Department for Transport from 23 May 2019 to 25 July 2019. He was Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport from January 2018 to May 2019.
He was Deputy Leader of the House of Commons from 17 July 2016 to 8 January 2018.
He was elected Conservative MP for Northampton North in May 2010.
Mr Stefano Sannino is the Secretary-General of the European External Action Service (EEAS) of the European Union since 1 January 2021. He held the post of the Deputy Secretary General for Economic and Global Issues at the EEAS from April 2020 to December 2020.
From March 2016 to April 2020 he was Ambassador of Italy to Spain and Andorra. From July 2013 until March 2016 he held the position of Permanent Representative of Italy to the EU in Brussels.
After a period at the Cabinet of the President of the Commission (from 2002 to 2004) he joined the Directorate General for External Relations as Director for Crisis Management and Representative at PSC (2004-2006), then Director for Latin America (2008-2009) and finally as Deputy Director General for Asia and Latin America (2009-2010).
In 2010 he moved to the Directorate General for Enlargement as Deputy Director General and later as Director General, a position he held until June 2013.
From 2006 to 2008 he was the Diplomatic Advisor to the Italian Prime Minister and his Personal Representative to G8 summits. He has also held the position of Ambassador and Head of the OSCE Mission in Belgrade from 2001 to 2002 and within the Italian Diplomatic Service: Deputy Head of Mission of the Italian Embassy in Belgrade (1994-1996), Head of the Secretariat of the Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs (1996-1998), Diplomatic Advisor and Head of the Cabinet of the Minister of Foreign Trade (1998-2001).
Mr Sannino is fluent in Spanish, English and French beyond his native Italian.
Nathalie Loiseau is the chair of the sub-committee on Security and Defense (SEDE) and of the European Parliament’s delegation to the EU-UK Parliamentary Partnership Assembly. She is also a member of the committees on Foreign Affairs (AFET) and on Foreign Interference in electoral processes, including disinformation (INGE).She led the Renaissance list during the 2019 European elections.
Minister for European Affairs in the French government from 2017 to 2019, she was the dean of the École nationale d’Administration (ENA) for five years, from 2012 to 2017, and diplomat within the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
She studied at the Paris Institute of Political Studies (IEP) and at the National Institute for Oriental Languages and Civilizations (INALCO).
She is the author of an essay on women’s rights, “Choisissez Tout” and of two comic books, “La Démocratie en BD” and “L’Europe en BD”.
Sir Oliver Heald QC is the Conservative MP for North East Hertfordshire.
Oliver studied law at Pembroke College, Cambridge and practised as a barrister before entering the House of Commons in 1992.
Oliver has served in the Governments of 3 Prime Ministers as Pensions Minister, Courts and Justice Minister and Solicitor-General. As a Justice Minister he attended EU Justice and Home Affairs Councils. In the Shadow Cabinet, his briefs included Constitutional Affairs and Shadow Leader of the House of Commons. He is a Privy Councillor.
He served on the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, where he was Vice-Chair of the Rules Committee, served on the sub-committee on Judges and was representative to GRECO. He has also served on the UK Committee on Standards in Public Life.
He supported Remain in the European Referendum.
In January 2022, he was appointed by the Prime Minister as Co-chair of the UK-EU Parliamentary Partnership Assembly. The other Co-chair is Nathalie Loiseau MEP. From January 2021, he had been the House of Commons Lead in setting up the Assembly with Lord Kinnoull acting on behalf of the House of Lords.
Georgina Wright is head of Institut Montaigne’s Europe Program. She is also a Visiting Fellow at the German Marshall Fund of the United States, associate of the Institute for Government in London and Senior Fellow at the Centre for Britain and Europe at the University of Surrey.
Before joining Institut Montaigne, she was senior researcher at the Institute for Government (2019-2020) and research associate at Chatham House (2014-2018). She has also worked for the European Commission and NATO in Brussels.
Georgina regularly represents Institut Montaigne on national and international news media, and has written widely for foreign policy outlets. She studied at the University of Edinburgh and the College of Europe (Bruges).
Recent publications: 2021 – A pivotal year ahead for ‘Global Britain’ (The Foreign Policy Centre, December 2020) ; In the Aftermath of Brexit, What Can ‘Global Britain’ Be? (with Ben Judah, World Politics Review, October 2020); No, Brussels is not misreading the UK’s threats of no deal (Prospect Magazine, August 2020); The EU’s recovery package does not signal the advent of an EU superstate (Institute for Government, July 2020) ; Implementing Brexit: securing more time (Institute for Government, May 2020) ; France in the Future of the EU: new perspectives (UK in a Changing Europe, March 2020) ; Implementing Brexit: the role of the joint committee (Institute for Government, March 2020) ; Influencing the EU after Brexit (Institute for Government, January 2020) ; Getting Brexit Done: What happens now? (Institute for Government, January 2020) ; Sorry Boris, the EU will respond to new ideas, not to a no-deal threat (Independent, July 2019); A bumpy road ahead: What these election results mean for Europe (Prospect Magazine, May 2019) ; There is little reason for the PM to attend the Munich Security Conference (Prospect Magazine, February 2019) ; Negotiating Brexit: Preparing for talks on the UK’s future relationship with the EU (Institute for Government, April 2019); Theresa May should learn to speak European (The Times, July 2018)
Sam heads the trade and market access practice at Flint Global. In addition, he is a senior visiting research fellow at The Policy Institute, Kings College London, and writes the weekly Substack trade newsletter, Most Favoured Nation.
Sam was previously a member of the UK government’s Strategic Trade Advisory Group (2019-2020) and has held positions as a senior advisor to the Blakeney Group, a senior research fellow at the Centre for European Reform, and the Brexit and trade lead for the environmental charity, Friends of the Earth. Sam regularly appears in the broadcast and print media.
Andrew Bounds is EU correspondent of the Financial Times covering Brexit, trade, agriculture and health policies since October 2021, as well as the Netherlands. It is his second stint in Brussels after working there 2004-8. He was North of England and Enterprise editor between 2008-21. He covered the “Northern powerhouse” and the Brexit vote in the UK.
He has worked for the FT since 1997 after starting in local newspapers and was Central America correspondent 2000-2.
He has a degree in International History and Politics from the University of Leeds, UK.
Kelly Beaver is Chief Executive of Ipsos in the UK and Ireland. She has been with Ipsos for over a decade and was previously Managing Director of Ipsos’s UK Public Affairs division which supports government clients to monitor and understand public opinion, behaviours and societal trends, design public services and policies, and to determine what works in achieving social and economic policy objectives.
Kelly has led a wide range of notable research programmes including the REACT study tracking COVID-19 prevalence across England, public attitudes work ranging from the use of evidence, Brexit and vaccines, through to a key piece of work with the Royal Foundation on the importance of the Early Years. Prior to joining Ipsos, Kelly held roles across various consultancies including PwC and KPMG and specialised in public policy evaluation.
Kelly holds several honorary positions external to Ipsos in academia and charities. She is passionate about the use of evidence in decision-making and her roles outside of Ipsos enable her to make a wider contribution to the social sciences discipline in promoting its use. She is a Fellow of the UK Academy for Social Sciences, a Board member for the Campaign for Social Science, a Visiting Senior Research Fellow at King’s College London and a Trustee for the Government What Works Centre for Early Intervention. She currently sits on the Advisory Panel for the Resolution Foundation’s ‘Economy 2030 Inquiry’.
Kelly is a regular commentator in the national press and broadcast media. She is experienced at presenting to senior audiences on public and business leader opinion and societal and consumer trends across a range of topics including trust, gender equality, employee engagement, leadership, and many others.
Suzanne Lynch is the co-author of Brussels Playbook, Politico’s flagship morning newsletter. Prior to joining Politico, she worked as a foreign correspondent and finance reporter for the Irish Times. She covered US politics, including the tumultuous Trump years, as Washington Correspondent for the Irish Times between 2017 and 2021.
She was previously European Correspondent, based in Brussels, where she led coverage of the euro zone crisis, Brexit and the refugee crisis. She has also written extensively on financial and arts issues, and is a regular contributor to international TV and radio platforms.
She holds a BA from University College Dublin and a PhD in English Literature from Cambridge University.
Paul Adamson is chairman of Forum Europe and Forum Global and founder of Encompass (previously E!Sharp), an online magazine and discussion space dedicated to covering the European Union and Europe’s place in the world.
Paul is a member of the Centre for European Reform’s advisory board and Rand Europe’s Council of Advisors. He is also a Visiting Professor at the Policy Institute, King’s College London, a Senior Adviser at the Atlantic Council’s Future Europe Initiative and a Senior Fellow at the Centre for Britain and Europe at the University of Surrey. He is a patron of the University Association of Contemporary European Studies (UACES) and a Fellow of the UK Academy of Social Sciences.
In 2012, Paul was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) “for services to promoting understanding of the European Union” and in 2016 he was made a Chevalier in the Ordre national du Mérite by the French government.
Maroš Šefčovič is the European Commission’s Vice-President for Energy Union, a position he has held since November 1, 2014. He was elected as a Member of the European Parliament in May 2014. Before that he was the Commission’s Vice President for Inter-Institutional Relations and Administration from 2010 to 2014, and Commissioner for Education, Training, Culture and Youth from 2009 to 2010. Šefčovič was Slovakia’s Permanent Representative to the EU from 2000 to 2009. Previously, he was Director-General in the European affairs section of Slovakia’s foreign Ministry in 2003 and has served as Slovakia’s Ambassador to Israel in 1999. He has a PhD in international and European law from Comenius University in Bratislava. He also studied at Stanford University, USA.
The Rt Hon Michael Ellis QC MP was appointed Minister for the Cabinet Office on 8 February 2022. He remains Paymaster General which he was appointed on 16 September 2021.
He was Solicitor General from 26 July 2019 to 2 March 2021, and re-appointed to that role from 10 September 2021 to 15 September 2021. He was Attorney General from 2 March 2021 to 10 September 2021 while Suella Braverman was designated as a Minister on Leave.
He was previously Minister of State at the Department for Transport from 23 May 2019 to 25 July 2019. He was Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport from January 2018 to May 2019.
He was Deputy Leader of the House of Commons from 17 July 2016 to 8 January 2018.
He was elected Conservative MP for Northampton North in May 2010.
Mr Stefano Sannino is the Secretary-General of the European External Action Service (EEAS) of the European Union since 1 January 2021. He held the post of the Deputy Secretary General for Economic and Global Issues at the EEAS from April 2020 to December 2020.
From March 2016 to April 2020 he was Ambassador of Italy to Spain and Andorra. From July 2013 until March 2016 he held the position of Permanent Representative of Italy to the EU in Brussels.
After a period at the Cabinet of the President of the Commission (from 2002 to 2004) he joined the Directorate General for External Relations as Director for Crisis Management and Representative at PSC (2004-2006), then Director for Latin America (2008-2009) and finally as Deputy Director General for Asia and Latin America (2009-2010).
In 2010 he moved to the Directorate General for Enlargement as Deputy Director General and later as Director General, a position he held until June 2013.
From 2006 to 2008 he was the Diplomatic Advisor to the Italian Prime Minister and his Personal Representative to G8 summits. He has also held the position of Ambassador and Head of the OSCE Mission in Belgrade from 2001 to 2002 and within the Italian Diplomatic Service: Deputy Head of Mission of the Italian Embassy in Belgrade (1994-1996), Head of the Secretariat of the Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs (1996-1998), Diplomatic Advisor and Head of the Cabinet of the Minister of Foreign Trade (1998-2001).
Mr Sannino is fluent in Spanish, English and French beyond his native Italian.
Nathalie Loiseau is the chair of the sub-committee on Security and Defense (SEDE) and of the European Parliament’s delegation to the EU-UK Parliamentary Partnership Assembly. She is also a member of the committees on Foreign Affairs (AFET) and on Foreign Interference in electoral processes, including disinformation (INGE).She led the Renaissance list during the 2019 European elections.
Minister for European Affairs in the French government from 2017 to 2019, she was the dean of the École nationale d’Administration (ENA) for five years, from 2012 to 2017, and diplomat within the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
She studied at the Paris Institute of Political Studies (IEP) and at the National Institute for Oriental Languages and Civilizations (INALCO).
She is the author of an essay on women’s rights, “Choisissez Tout” and of two comic books, “La Démocratie en BD” and “L’Europe en BD”.
Sir Oliver Heald QC is the Conservative MP for North East Hertfordshire.
Oliver studied law at Pembroke College, Cambridge and practised as a barrister before entering the House of Commons in 1992.
Oliver has served in the Governments of 3 Prime Ministers as Pensions Minister, Courts and Justice Minister and Solicitor-General. As a Justice Minister he attended EU Justice and Home Affairs Councils. In the Shadow Cabinet, his briefs included Constitutional Affairs and Shadow Leader of the House of Commons. He is a Privy Councillor.
He served on the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, where he was Vice-Chair of the Rules Committee, served on the sub-committee on Judges and was representative to GRECO. He has also served on the UK Committee on Standards in Public Life.
He supported Remain in the European Referendum.
In January 2022, he was appointed by the Prime Minister as Co-chair of the UK-EU Parliamentary Partnership Assembly. The other Co-chair is Nathalie Loiseau MEP. From January 2021, he had been the House of Commons Lead in setting up the Assembly with Lord Kinnoull acting on behalf of the House of Lords.
Georgina Wright is head of Institut Montaigne’s Europe Program. She is also a Visiting Fellow at the German Marshall Fund of the United States, associate of the Institute for Government in London and Senior Fellow at the Centre for Britain and Europe at the University of Surrey.
Before joining Institut Montaigne, she was senior researcher at the Institute for Government (2019-2020) and research associate at Chatham House (2014-2018). She has also worked for the European Commission and NATO in Brussels.
Georgina regularly represents Institut Montaigne on national and international news media, and has written widely for foreign policy outlets. She studied at the University of Edinburgh and the College of Europe (Bruges).
Recent publications: 2021 – A pivotal year ahead for ‘Global Britain’ (The Foreign Policy Centre, December 2020) ; In the Aftermath of Brexit, What Can ‘Global Britain’ Be? (with Ben Judah, World Politics Review, October 2020); No, Brussels is not misreading the UK’s threats of no deal (Prospect Magazine, August 2020); The EU’s recovery package does not signal the advent of an EU superstate (Institute for Government, July 2020) ; Implementing Brexit: securing more time (Institute for Government, May 2020) ; France in the Future of the EU: new perspectives (UK in a Changing Europe, March 2020) ; Implementing Brexit: the role of the joint committee (Institute for Government, March 2020) ; Influencing the EU after Brexit (Institute for Government, January 2020) ; Getting Brexit Done: What happens now? (Institute for Government, January 2020) ; Sorry Boris, the EU will respond to new ideas, not to a no-deal threat (Independent, July 2019); A bumpy road ahead: What these election results mean for Europe (Prospect Magazine, May 2019) ; There is little reason for the PM to attend the Munich Security Conference (Prospect Magazine, February 2019) ; Negotiating Brexit: Preparing for talks on the UK’s future relationship with the EU (Institute for Government, April 2019); Theresa May should learn to speak European (The Times, July 2018)
Sam heads the trade and market access practice at Flint Global. In addition, he is a senior visiting research fellow at The Policy Institute, Kings College London, and writes the weekly Substack trade newsletter, Most Favoured Nation.
Sam was previously a member of the UK government’s Strategic Trade Advisory Group (2019-2020) and has held positions as a senior advisor to the Blakeney Group, a senior research fellow at the Centre for European Reform, and the Brexit and trade lead for the environmental charity, Friends of the Earth. Sam regularly appears in the broadcast and print media.
Andrew Bounds is EU correspondent of the Financial Times covering Brexit, trade, agriculture and health policies since October 2021, as well as the Netherlands. It is his second stint in Brussels after working there 2004-8. He was North of England and Enterprise editor between 2008-21. He covered the “Northern powerhouse” and the Brexit vote in the UK.
He has worked for the FT since 1997 after starting in local newspapers and was Central America correspondent 2000-2.
He has a degree in International History and Politics from the University of Leeds, UK.
Kelly Beaver is Chief Executive of Ipsos in the UK and Ireland. She has been with Ipsos for over a decade and was previously Managing Director of Ipsos’s UK Public Affairs division which supports government clients to monitor and understand public opinion, behaviours and societal trends, design public services and policies, and to determine what works in achieving social and economic policy objectives.
Kelly has led a wide range of notable research programmes including the REACT study tracking COVID-19 prevalence across England, public attitudes work ranging from the use of evidence, Brexit and vaccines, through to a key piece of work with the Royal Foundation on the importance of the Early Years. Prior to joining Ipsos, Kelly held roles across various consultancies including PwC and KPMG and specialised in public policy evaluation.
Kelly holds several honorary positions external to Ipsos in academia and charities. She is passionate about the use of evidence in decision-making and her roles outside of Ipsos enable her to make a wider contribution to the social sciences discipline in promoting its use. She is a Fellow of the UK Academy for Social Sciences, a Board member for the Campaign for Social Science, a Visiting Senior Research Fellow at King’s College London and a Trustee for the Government What Works Centre for Early Intervention. She currently sits on the Advisory Panel for the Resolution Foundation’s ‘Economy 2030 Inquiry’.
Kelly is a regular commentator in the national press and broadcast media. She is experienced at presenting to senior audiences on public and business leader opinion and societal and consumer trends across a range of topics including trust, gender equality, employee engagement, leadership, and many others.
Suzanne Lynch is the co-author of Brussels Playbook, Politico’s flagship morning newsletter. Prior to joining Politico, she worked as a foreign correspondent and finance reporter for the Irish Times. She covered US politics, including the tumultuous Trump years, as Washington Correspondent for the Irish Times between 2017 and 2021.
She was previously European Correspondent, based in Brussels, where she led coverage of the euro zone crisis, Brexit and the refugee crisis. She has also written extensively on financial and arts issues, and is a regular contributor to international TV and radio platforms.
She holds a BA from University College Dublin and a PhD in English Literature from Cambridge University.
Our vision
The City of London Corporation is the governing body of the Square Mile dedicated to a vibrant and thriving City, supporting a diverse and sustainable London within a globally-successful UK.
We aim to:
• Contribute to a flourishing society
• Support a thriving economy
• Shape outstanding environments
Our reach extends far beyond the Square Mile’s boundaries and across private, public and voluntary sector responsibilities. This, along with our independent and non-party political voice and convening power, enables us to promote the interests of people and organisations across London and the UK and play a valued role on the world stage.
Supporting the UK-wide financial and professional services industry
The financial and professional services industry is key to the ongoing prosperity of the UK. The City of London Corporation works with partners in industry and local and national governments across the UK to:
• accelerate sustainable growth thorough financial and professional services innovation and the use of technology.
• boost the competitiveness of the UK’s world-class business environment.
• maximise market access for UK-based FPS firms.
• promote global recognition of the UK’s world-leading FPS offer in key markets.
• cultivate strong, strategic, outcome-focussed relationships with key stakeholders.
Your corporate logo on all event materials, including the event website
Expo booth on our virtual interactive platform showcasing your products, research & solutions
Option to pre record on demand content to showcase in our expo area throughout the conference
Organisation membership of the EU|UK Forum for one year, including:
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