Speaker Biographies

Speakers

Moderators

Matthias Ruete

Director General for Mobility and Transport , European Commission

Since 2010 Matthias Ruete has been Director General of the Directorate General for Mobility and Transport (DG MOVE). Between 2006 and 2009 he was Director General for Energy and Transport.
 
2005 he worked as Director in DG Enterprise and Industry for "coordination for competitiveness''; from 2000 to 2004 he was Director in DG Enlargement dealing with the coordination of negotiations, pre-accession and financial instruments, first for the ten countries that finalized negotiations in 2002 and then for Bulgaria, Romania and Turkey. From 1998 to 2000 Matthias Ruete was Director in DG Transport in the area of international relations, trans-European transport and infrastructure networks.
 
His initial post at the European Commission was in DG Social Affairs (Health and Safety) before moving to DG Internal Market (administrator for media legislation, then assistant to the Director General), becoming Head of the Industrial Cooperation Unit in DG Industry in 1993. Before being appointed Director, he was Member of Cabinet, afterwards Deputy Head of Cabinet of Edith Cresson, the Commissioner for Research, Innovation and Education (1995 to 1998).
 
Mr Ruete's academic background is in the field of law and political sciences. He holds a Master (London) and doctorate (Giessen) in law and the German state exams in law. Before joining the European Commission, he lectured in Constitutional, European and International Public Law at Warwick University.

Karl Falkenberg

Director General for Environment, European Commission

Karl Falkenberg has a long experience as a negotiator in the European Commission. He started his career in the Commission as textiles negotiator, has dealt with international fisheries issues and since 1985 with the GATT. In 1990, he served as foreign policy advisor to EU President Jacques Delors, with particular focus on the German unification process. He was involved in the Uruguay Round negotiations and has been negotiating the telecommunications and financial services agreements in WTO. From 1997 to December 2000 he was in charge of the coordination of all WTO issues. In 2001 he was appointed Director in charge of sectoral trade policies and bilateral trade relations with North America, Japan, the Mediterranean area and the African, Caribbean and Pacific countries and in 2002 Director for Free trade agreements, Agricultural trade questions, ACP. From 2005 to 2008 he coordinated all bilateral trade policies as Deputy Director General. In January 2009, he took up the position of Director General of the Environment, covering the EU's environmental policy in both its domestic and international dimensions.

Karl Falkenberg is a trained economist and journalist.

Arijandas Šliupas

Vice-Minister of Transport and Communications, Republic of Lithuania

Arijandas was born in 1973 in Šiauliai (Lithuania). He obtained a Master‘s Degree in International transportation and logistics of Vilnius Gediminas Technical University and one in International management and Business Administration of ISM University of Management and Economics.
Arijandas became Vice-Minister of Transport and Communications in December 2012.

In his role as Vice-minister, A. Šliupas is in charge of the civil aviation, information society policy, international co-operation and also of the following institutions, which fall within the regulation of the Ministry: Civil Aviation Administration, Information Society Development Committee, SE “Air Navigation” SE Vilnius International Airport, SE Kaunas Airport, SE Palanga International Airport, JSC Lithuanian Post, JSC Lithuanian Radio and Television Centre.

Before entering the post of Vice-Minister, Arijandas Šliupas headed the SE Kaunas Airport. Over his carrer Arijandas has held a variety of positions - Director of Commerce at JSC Litcargus, General Manager at JSC Balti Logistika and Operating Manager at JSC “Nordnet“.

Arijandas is married with one son. He likes spending his free time on downhill skiing and other active outdoor activities.

Baudouin Kelecom

Fuels Executive, Refining and Supply Planning , ExxonMobil

Baudouin Kelecom (born 1957, Liège) is Fuels Executive, Refining and Supply Planning at ExxonMobil.

Baudouin Kelecom studied civil engineering at the Université de Liège where he graduated in 1981. From 1981 to 1982, he followed a post graduate course in industrial policy at the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven.

He started his career in 1984 as Investment Analyst at Esso Chemicals in Brussels, then the chemical branch of Exxon Corporation. He then went on to hold a series of posts in ExxonChemical, including a role at Exxon’s Research Lab in Abingdon, UK and senior positions in Marketing in the Middle-East and Africa, as well as in France and the Benelux. Subsequently he held senior management position in European product management and European manufacturing.

In 1998 Baudouin Kelecom became Public Affairs Manager Europe Middle East and Africa at the time of the ExxonMobil merger and in 2004 he became Executive Corporate Advisor on energy policies and advanced fuels.

Baudouin is Belgian and is married with three children.

Hans Bruyninckx

Executive Director, European Environment Agency

Hans Bruyninckx is the Executive Director of the European Environment Agency, taking office on 1 June, 2013. He was born in Schoten, Belgium in 1964.

Dr Bruyninckx studied undergraduate and master’s degrees in political science specialising in international relations at Antwerp University and Katholieke Universiteit Leuven. He also completed an additional programme in development studies at the University Catholique de Louvain.

He completed a PhD degree in 1996 at Colorado State University on the topic of international environmental politics, subsequently teaching at several other universities in the United States and Europe, including Colorado State University, Canisius College and Wageningen University.

From 2010 until his appointment at the EEA, he was head of the HIVA Research Institute in Leuven, Belgium, a policy-oriented research institute associated with the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, where he was also head of the Political Science department from 2007 to 2010. Dr Bruyninckx has also been a senior member of the interdisciplinary Leuven Centre for Global Governance Studies and promoter-coordinator of the Flemish Policy Research Centre on Transitions for Sustainable Development (TRADO).

Over the last 20 years, he has conducted and managed policy-oriented research in the areas of environmental politics, climate change, and sustainable development. He was responsible for research in the domains of policy evaluation, monitoring and reporting, methodology development, environmental policy integration, and more recently also on long-term transition policies. His experience pertains to the level of the regions (Flanders in a comparative European perspective), the EU Member States, the EU level, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), and processes of global environmental governance (climate change in particular).

His academic expertise lies primarily in the field of European and international environmental policy, studying the effects of globalisation on the global governance of environmental issues and sustainable development. From this perspective he has also studied global production and consumption systems, as well as issues relating to distribution and justice. He has taught courses on the topics of global environmental politics and global environmental governance in relation to the European Union (EU), publishing extensively on EU environmental policies and its role as an actor in global environmental governance.

Dr Bruyninckx was involved in numerous policy processes as an advisory board member, involved in steering groups of government agencies, and as academic policy advisor to governmental agencies and other key actors. In addition, he has worked intensely with civil society and business actors, in support of public-private initiatives or private regulatory approaches to environmental, climate change and sustainability issues. Furthermore, he was president of the board of Bond Beter Leefmilieu (The Association for a Better Environment), a Flemish umbrella organisation bringing together many different environmental groups.

Dr Bruyninckx speaks fluent English, French and German in addition to his native Flemish. During his career he has conducted research in more than a dozen different countries.

He is a keen sailor as well as an outdoor and sports enthusiast.

Hughes van Honacker

Team Leader, Clean Transport and Sustainable Urban Mobility, European Commission

Chemical Engineer from the "université Libre de Bruxelles" (ULB). Master in Management from ULB. Mr Van Honacker started his professional career In Japan in NGK Ceramics. He joined Toyota Motor Europe for 7 years in diverse R&D positions, then joined the European Commission 10 years ago in charge of fuel cells and hydrogen and smart grids R&D projects. He is working now as a Policy Officer at the Directorate General of Mobility and Transport and is in charge of electromobility policies and urban mobility projects.

Chris Malins

Fuels Program Lead, The International Council on Clean Transportation

Chris Malins leads the ICCT's Fuels Program. The team's work is currently focused on: biofuel sustainability, in particular the commercialization of advanced biofuel pathways and the indirect effects of biofuels production; the lifecycle analysis of fossil fuel production; and the transition to ultra-low sulfur fuels. Prior to joining the ICCT, Chris led communications at the UK Government’s Renewable Fuels Agency, the world’s first biofuel sustainability regulator. Chris holds a PhD in Applied Mathematics from the University of Sheffield, and an MPhys in Mathematics and Physics from the University of Warwick. He sits as a low carbon fuels expert on advisory groups for The European Commission, International Civil Aviation Organization, California Air Resources Board and UK Department for Transport.

Pierre-Etienne Franc

Advanced Business and Technologies Vice President, Air Liquide and Chair of Governing Board of, The Fuel Cells and Hydrogen Joint Undertaking

Pierre-Etienne Franc is responsible for strategic management of the Air Liquide Group portfolio of technologies into future and emerging markets, mainly in the H2, energy, environment, space and satellites, aerospace, scientific labs, and industrial IT sectors.

The division includes the operational management of DTA (Advanced technologies and cryogenics division), Cryospace (space industry cryogenics), AL H2E and AXANE (H2 and Fuel Cell activities), ISIS (industrial IT solutions) and Air Liquide Demonstrators Group activities, which includes coordination of Energy and Environment demonstration projects (Oxycombustion, CCS, Advanced Biofuels and Biogas technologies development).

Franc is also Chairman of the Governing Board of the Fuel Cells and Hydrogen Joint Undertaking (FCH JU) and Chairman of the Board of its Industry Grouping (NEW-IG). He has written several publications and has been awarded various distinctions, e.g. from Ernst & Young

Greg Archer

Programme Manager - Clean Vehicles, Transport & Environment

Greg Archer manages vehicles activities for the European Federation for Transport & Environment (T&E), the principal environmental organisation campaigning on sustainable transport at the EU level. In this role he represents the interests of more than 50 environmental groups working for more sustainable transport across Europe.

Since joining T&E Greg’s work has focused on the contentious 95g, 2020 CO2 target and vehicle noise regulations. Before joining T&E, in 2012, Greg was UK-based directing the Low Carbon Vehicle Partnership a multi-stakeholder partnership promoting the shift to low carbon vehicles and fuels. He was also a member of the Board of a centre of excellence for low carbon vehicle technologies (Cenex); and UK Renewable Fuels Agency that regulated the supply of biofuels.

Greg has spent his career in the environmental sector with previous roles include working in business running an environmental consultancy; managing major Government programmes for pollution management; directing public-partnerships and environmental regulators; and in research and campaigning. He describes himself as a “pragmatic environmentalist.

Samuel Maubanc

General Manager, AEGPL

Samuel Maubanc is General Manager at the European LPG Association (AEGPL), which is the sole representative of the LPG industry at European level, representing national LPG Associations as well as distributors and equipment manufacturers from across Europe.

He joined the AEGPL in 2011. His main role is to coordinate the work of the association and to establish reliable and efficient communication channels with EU policy makers and the wider policy community, on behalf of the European LPG sector. Samuel represents AEGPL in EU-level discussions relating to policies and regulations that are of direct relevance to LPG, either as a heating/cooking, industrial, or transport fuel.

Samuel has over eight years of experience in EU affairs and has held numerous positions in Brussels-based public affairs consultancies, where he was advising companies from a wide range of sectors including energy, ICT, retail, food, and media. Prior to living in Brussels, he also worked in Tokyo at the European Commission Delegation to Japan, where he dealt with regulatory obstacles preventing European businesses getting access to the Japanese market.

Samuel is a French citizen and holds a Master’s degree in European Studies from the university of Aalborg, Denmark.

Matthew Pencharz

Senior Advisor - Environment and Energy to the Mayor of London, Greater London Authority

Mr Pencharz's biography will appear here shortly

Maciej Szymanski

Policy Officer, Sustainable Mobility and Automotive Industry, DG ENTR, European Commission

Maciej Szymański, 33, is a member of the ‘Sustainable Mobility and Automotive Industry’ Unit within the Directorate General Enterprise and Industry and is responsible for the light-duty vehicles emission legislation and economic situation of the European automotive industry. He graduated in 2005 from the Technical University of Łódź, Poland, with a degree in Business and Technology. During his professional career he worked for the international companies operating in Central and Eastern Europe markets where he managed technological projects. He joined the European Commission in 2012.

Arturo Pérez de Lucia

General Manager, AEDIVE

Arturo Pérez de Lucia is General Manager at the Spanish cluster for the Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (AEDIVE), a non-profit association representing primarily distributors and equipment manufacturers of charging infrastructures, software management systems, vehicles and related sectors, representing the entire value chain of the Electric Vehicle market in their dealings with central, regional and local administrations, institutions and the market itself, including the end users.

He joined AEDIVE in 2011 and his main role is to coordinate the work of the association through its Working Groups and to establish communication channels with Spanish and EU policy makers and other stakeholders.

Arturo has over 20 years of work experience, mostly as General Manager in several professional publications and internet portals from a wide range of sectors including energy efficiency, logistics, sustainable construction and sustainable mobility. He also has extensive consulting experience in the e-mobility sector.

Arturo is a Spanish citizen with dual nationality by being born and raised in the United States, and holds a degree as Journalist from the Complutense University of Madrid, Spain.

Brigide Kisters

Transport Attaché, Permanent Mission of the Kingdom of the Netherlands to the EU

Ms Kisters's biography will appear here shortly

Andreas Pilzecker

Policy Officer, Renewables, DG Energy, European Commission

Mr Pilzecker's biography is not available

Marilena di Stasi

Policy Analyst, DG SANCO, European Commission

Marilena joined the European Commission and Directorate General for Health and Consumers in April 2010.
In September 2010 she joined Directorate B and Unit B1 "Consumer markets" as a policy analyst dealing with Eurobarometers and redress issues.
She is also in charge of the market study on the vehicle fuels from a consumer perspective. During the last two years she has gained a solid experience in energy related issues.
Before joining the Commission, Marilena worked as an International trade advisor dealing mainly with WTO issues and EU affairs for the Belgian Foreign affairs ministry. She also worked as a task manager in the public and private sector in Belgium, Italy, Western Balkans and Northern Africa.
She holds a degree in International Political Science from Salerno University complemented by a post graduated certificate in International trade from the Italian Foreign Trade Institute and an MBA from the United Business Institute in Brussels.
She wrote several essays on the multilateral trade system, the role of the EU in Western Balkans and on the accession of Turkey to the EU. She speaks Italian, French, English and Spanish.

Alfredo Sánchez Vicente

Project Manager for Transport, European Environment Agency

Alfredo Sánchez Vicente joined the European Environmental Agency as Project Manager for Transport in July 2010. His tasks are to manage EEA’s work on transport assessments and transport indicators, including the elaboration of the Transport and Environment Reporting Mechanism (TERM) annual report. This report annually monitors progress towards transport and environment targets in the EU and it also covers a more in-depth analysis of different topical issues every year.

He is a Spanish civil servant for the Ministry of Transport since 2008 and before joining the EEA he spent ten years at different private and public organisations in three different countries working in the field of transport and environment. His background is a degree in environmental sciences and he worked as a researcher at the School of Civil Engineering in Madrid, coordinating or participating in a number of European and national research projects dealing with environmental impacts from transport.

Gautier Chatelus

Chief Investment Officer, CDC Infra-Management

Gautier CHATELUS (gautier.chatelus@cdc-im.com), is Chief Investment Officer of CDC-Infra Management, an affiliate of French Caisse des Dépôts dedicated to investment in the Infrastructure asset class.

In the course of his career, he has been working for the French Ministries of Transportation and Finance, where he was in charge of evaluation of transportation and energy public investment projects, and working on the development of the transeuropean networks and their extension to the East and to the Mediterranean area. He has later joined for Total, as a Vice President for gas and power projects development in Asia and then for E&P activity in Middle East, before joining CDC Group in 2009. He graduated as a civil Engineer from the Ecole Polytechnique and Ecole des Ponts et Chaussées in Paris, and holds a degree in Economy.

CDC Infrastructure, www.cdcinfrastructure.com, is a 100% subsidiary of Caisse des Dépôts and makes long-term equity investments in infrastructure projects. It invests in mature (“Brownfield”) assets and in new (“Greenfield”) projects mainly regulated or financed in the form of public-private partnerships (PPP) or concessions. CDC Infrastructure targets a €1,500m portfolio by 2014, focused on 4 sectors: transport, energy, telecoms and the environment.

Bettina Kampman

Manager Energy, CE Delft

Bettina Kampman MSc is manager of CE Delft’s Energy Division, a team of eight professionals. This division covers issues related to national and international energy policies, fossil and renewable energy production and infrastructure, energy in the built environment and industry.
Her background is a degree in mechanical engineering and nine years of research for Shell International Exploration and Production. She joined CE Delft in 1999 and was CE Delft’s senior consultant on Climate Policies in Transport from 2002 until the beginning of 2013.
Bettina has a long track record as a researcher, consultant and project manager in the areas of alternative fuels and options for sustainable transport. She was strongly involved in projects in the areas of renewable energy and biofuels, greenhouse gas reduction for transport in 2020 and 2050, fuel efficient cars, natural gas and electric vehicles. Her clients are the national government and the European Commission, NGOs and industry.

Christian Egenhofer

Senior Fellow, Head of the Energy and Climate programme, Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS)

Function
Senior Fellow and head of the Energy and climate programme; Senior Research Fellow & Jean-Monnet Lecturer, Centre for Energy, Petroleum, Mineral Law and Policy (CEPMLP) at University of Dundee, Scotland, UK

Area of Expertise
Energy policy and regulation, Climate change policy; EU business policy, Environmental policy, Transport policy, Politics of the EU, Institutions of the EU, Regulatory policy, Sustainable development

Languages
English, French, German

Education
Masters in International Administration, University of Konstanz; Public Law Degree

To view Christian's publications, please go to:
http://www.ceps.eu/member/christian-egenhofer

David Bonilla

Senior Research Fellow, Transport Studies Unit, School of Geography and Environment, University of Oxford

Dr David Bonilla is a Senior Research Fellow at the Transport Studies Unit in the School of Geography and Environment at the University of Oxford. He is also a James Martin Fellow at the Oxford Martin School in Oxford. He did his first degree in economics and a Masters Degree in Economics at Queen Mary College, University of London, and a PhD at the Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology. Prior to joining Oxford, he held research posts at Cambridge University (faculty of Economics) and in Japan. David is currently working on rebound effects of freight transport activity of European nations. David is interested in sustainable freight transport and environmental policy for transport. David and colleagues of TSU are editing a handbook on Transport and Development due to come out in 2014 by Edward Elgar publishing. In 2012, David has given talks at the World Economic Forum in China. In 2013, David has been a reviewer of the IPCC chapter on transport of the Intergovernmental panel of Climate Change report. David is a native Spanish speaker and also speaks some Japanese.
David delivers regularly lectures around the world once a year to engage with key experts and with stakeholders and has spoken in three continents. In the past, he has been principal investigator in several European Union funded initiatives on freight transport research such as Freightvision and Logman in collaboration with Austria-Tech in Vienna.

Emily Waterfield

Chief Correspondent, Energy, MLex

Emily has more than a decade’s experience reporting for leading Brussels publications including the European Voice newspaper, ENDS Europe, and the Parliament Magazine. She now works as Chief Energy Correspondent for MLex, an independent news organisation covering regulatory developments in Europe and the US. Emily moved to Brussels in 2002 with degrees from Cambridge and New York University.