About

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 (born in 1966) is a Slovak diplomat, who since 1 December 2019 has served as Vice-President of the European Commission in charge of Interinstitutional Relations and Foresight. In this capacity, he leads the Commission’s work on interinstitutional relations, better policymaking, strategic foresight and the European Battery Alliance. He is also responsible for the European Union’s relations with Western non-EU countries, notably Andorra, Iceland, Monaco, Norway, Lichtenstein, San Marino and Switzerland. He also cochairs the EU-UK Partnership Council under the Trade and Cooperation Agreement and the EU-UK Joint Committee for the implementation of the Withdrawal Agreement.
European affairs have been at the centre of Mr Šefčovič’s career for almost two decades. In 2014, he was elected as a Member of the European Parliament. From 2010-2019, he was Vice-President of the European Commission in charge of first Interinstitutional Relations and Administration, and then the Energy Union. In 2009-2010, he was European Commissioner for Education, Training, Culture and Youth. From 2004 -2009, he was the Permanent Representative of the Slovak Republic to the European Union, contributing to the country’s major integration projects, such as its entry to the Eurozone and the Schengen area. As a diplomat by profession, he served between 1992 and 2004 in Zimbabwe and Canada and as Ambassador to Israel.
He graduated from the University of Economy in Bratislava, Slovakia, and the Moscow State Institute for Foreign Relations. He holds a degree as Doctor of Law and a PhD of European Law from Faculty of Law at the Comenius University in Bratislava, Slovakia. He also undertook training in diplomacy at Stanford University, USA.
He wrote a book “Driving the EU forward – talks with Maroš Šefčovič”, focused on his first mandate as the Commission Vice-President. In 2018, he was awarded the title of Doctor Honoris Causa at the Pan-European University in Bratislava, Slovakia.

Gideon Skinner is Head of Politics Research in Public Affairs at Ipsos where he has worked since 1997. He leads on our research into cross-cutting issues that face all public services, such as public service reform, trust, and research into many political and social trends. As Head of Political Research, Gideon has also been involved in our coverage and analysis of every general election since 1997  including appearing on CNN as the results of the 2024 general election were announced. Gideon contributes to many of our published thought leadership reports, including our Understanding Society publication, our regular Global Advisor international polling series, and is part of the Ipsos Thinks team.

He has presented data to many interested audiences and conferences both in the UK and overseas, to Cabinet Ministers, senior civil servants, business people, and students and schoolchildren, as well as appearing on TV, radio and podcasts to discuss public opinion on current affairs.

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.

Julie is a member of the EY Global Executive and Area Managing Partner for Europe, Middle East, India and Africa (EMEIA). As EY EMEIA Area Managing Partner, Julie leads a geographic area comprising member firms with more than 150,000 people across 95 countries and representing combined revenues of over US$20b.
In this role she is responsible for all four business units, including assurance, tax, consulting, as well as strategy and transactions. Julie joined EY in 2001, has served as lead partner for several Fortune 500 clients and previously held a number of leadership roles within the international practice. Julie continues to serve clients as a senior advisor, contributing to large-scale transformation and change programs. Julie was recently named one of Fortune magazine’s Most Powerful Women International.
With three decades of experience in professional services for international clients, she believes that business has a responsibility in tackling global challenges and that growth must be sustainable and deliver value that will benefit all stakeholders. Julie is an active champion of women and the Global Leader for the EY Women. Fast forward initiative.
A member of the UN EQUALS Advisory Board, which is focused on connecting public and private sector to advance digital equality, Julie believes that technology represents a huge opportunity to accelerate the inclusion of females in the economy. She also serves on several boards across Europe and the US, such as JA Europe, the largest non-profit in Europe dedicated to preparing young people for employment and entrepreneurship, Atlantik Brücke and the American Council on Germany, both committed to building relationships between Germany, Europe and the US.
Born in the US, Julie has accumulated over 30 years of international experience with terms in the Netherlands, Germany and now the UK. She studied business in Heidelberg, Frankfurt and Paris and qualified as a US Certified Public Accountant.

Nick Collier joined the City of London Corporation as its new Managing Director of the Brussels office in March 2019. He was previously Global Head of Government Relations at Refinitiv (Thomson Reuters) and before that worked at a range of organisations in the financial services sector, including Morgan Stanley and the Bank of England and, until recently, served as Chair of TheCityUK’s Public Affairs Group as well as Deputy Chair of the International Regulatory Strategy Group. Nick is chair of diplomatic engagement at the International Business and Diplomatic Exchange.

Dr Rosa Balfour is director of Carnegie Europe. Her fields of expertise include European politics, institutions, and foreign and security policy. Her current research focuses on the relationship between domestic politics and Europe’s global role.
She is the author of books, research-based articles, and opinion pieces in the international press on issues relating to European politics and international relations. Balfour is also an advisor to Women in International Security Brussels (WIIS-Brussels), an associate fellow at LSE IDEAS, an alumna of the Europe’s Futures program at the Institute for Human Sciences in Vienna. In 2024 she was appointed to the Scientific Advisory Council of the Finnish Institute of International Affairs. Since 2021, she is an honorary patron of the University Association for Contemporary European Studies (UACES).
Prior to joining Carnegie Europe, Balfour was a senior fellow at the German Marshall Fund of the United States. She was also director of the Europe in the World program at the European Policy Centre in Brussels and has worked as a researcher in Rome and London.
Dr Balfour holds an MA in history from Cambridge University, an MSc in European Studies and PhD in International Relations both from the London School of Economics and Political Science.

Julian King was the last UK EU Commissioner (2016-19), responsible for the Security Union in Jean-Claude Juncker’s Commission.

Sir Julian King is a Senior Advisor at Flint Global, Fellow of RUSI and the Oxford Internet Institute. He was the last British European Commissioner, serving as EU Commissioner for the Security Union from 2016-2019, with responsibility for counter terrorism, cyber security, tackling hybrid threats, disinformation, and securing critical digital infrastructure. He joined the Foreign & Commonwealth Office in 1985. He has held various positions, including: UK Ambassador to France (2016); Director General Economic & Consular (2014); DG of the Northern Ireland Office London and Belfast (2011); UK Ambassador to Ireland (2009); EU Commission Chef de Cabinet to Commissioner for Trade (2008); UK Representative on EU Political and Security Committee, (2004).

Henry Foy is the FT’s Brussels Bureau Chief, leading coverage of EU affairs and managing a team of correspondents reporting on European politics and policy. Henry is also the lead writer of Europe Express, the FT’s agenda-setting weekday newsletter on European affairs. Previously he was Moscow Bureau Chief, where he interviewed president Vladimir Putin and charted his regime’s descent into repression. He has also been posted in Warsaw and London. Henry joined the FT in 2013 from Reuters, where he was a correspondent in India.