Joost P. van Iersel began his professional career in 1967 as a civil servant in the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs. Subsequently he was general secretary of a Dutch employers' association. From 1979 until 1994 Mr van Iersel was a Member of the Parliament (Christian Democrats), where he focused on trade and industry and EC matters, and also served as president of the Dutch European Movement. From 1992 until 2002 he was chairman of the Chamber of Commerce of The Hague, where he took a particular interest in regional infrastructure and spatial development in the Randstad (the densely populated region in the west of the country). Mr van Iersel has served on the supervisory board of several companies and social organisations. He has been a member of the EESC since 2002. From 2006 until 2010 he chaired the EESC Consultative Committee on Industrial Change. He subsequently chaired the EESC Steering Committee on Europe 2020. Since April 2013 Mr van Iersel has chaired the EESC's Section for Economic and Monetary Union and Economic and Social Cohesion. His main areas of interest as a rapporteur are industrial and sector policies, (European) metropolitan areas and good EU governance. Mr van Iersel lectures and writes articles on political economy and Europe.
Sandro Gozi is a Member of the Italian Parliament since 2006. Currently he is State Secretary at the Presidency in the Italian Government, in charge of European Affairs. In August 2013 he has been nominee vice-President of the Assembly of the Council of Europe, and from January to May 2014 he has been chosen as vice-president of the Socialist Group at the Assembly of the Council of Europe. From 2006 until 2008 he was the President of the parliamentary Committee on the Schengen, Europol and Immigration Affairs. Between 2008 and 2013 he was then appointed as group leader of the Democratic Party at the parliamentary Commission on EU policies and he was in charge at national level of EU policies for the Democratic Party. From September 2013, he is also an unpaid advisor to the Municipality of Rome on matters related to European funds and projects. From 1995 to 1996 he worked as a diplomat at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In 1996 at the European Commission he was in charge of the relationship with the European Parliament and he took part in the negotiations for the introduction of the Euro. Overall, he has worked as official at the European Commission for 10 years, dealing with institutional affairs, regional cooperation in the Balkans and in the Mediterranean, and matters related to education and culture. In particular, between 2000 and 2004, he was a member of the cabinet of EC President Romano Prodi, and afterward until 2005 he worked in the bureau of European policy advisers of President José Manuel Durao Barroso. In 2005 he worked as a diplomatic advisor of Nichi Vendola, President of the Italian region of Puglia, and then, from 2006 until 2008, as a European policies advisor in the new Prodi government. He is President of the Italy-India Association and between 2004 and 2010 he has been the deputy secretary-general of the European Democratic Party.
Maria João Rodrigues, currently Member of the European Parliament, S&D Group Vice-Chair, Social and Economic Model, was Minister of Employment in Portugal and has been a policy maker working with the European Institutions since 2000. The main outcomes she has been working for are:
•The EU Strategy for growth and jobs, the Lisbon Strategy followed by the EU2020 Strategy;
• The EU agenda for globalization and the strategic partnerships with the USA, China, Russia, India and Brazil for a new growth model;
• The development of several policy areas: employment, education, innovation, research, regional and industrial policies;
• Special EU initiatives: the new Erasmus for mobility, New Skills for New Jobs;
• The responses to the euro-zone crisis;
• The final negotiation of the Lisbon Treaty;
In academic terms, she was professor of European economic policies in the European Studies Institute - Université Libre de Bruxelles and in the Lisbon University Institute. She was also the chair of the European Commission Advisory Board for socio-economic sciences.
As an Economist, he began his career working on Industrial Policy Research and Studies and then undertook roles of great responsibility within the Public Administration. He was formerly the General Managing Director and then Chief of the Competitiveness Department of the Ministry of Economic Development . He created and developed the Industry 2015 program, a plan designed to relaunch the competitivity of the entire Industrial System. He is Chief Managing Director of the Ministry of Economic Development and is currently the Director of the Industrial Policies Department of Confindustria.
Massimo Cingolani is Managerial Adviser in the Operations Directorate of European Investment Bank (EIB) where he follows the Western Balkans Investment Framework. He is interested in economic policy analysis. In particular, he followed an EIB sponsored research on Public Investment under Budgetary Constraints in New Member States in the context of which he published two articles on “PPP Financing in the Road Sector: A Disequilibrium Analysis Based on the Monetary Circuit” and “Public investment under disequilibrium: a post Keynesian viewpoint”. He also co-edited with Mario Seccareccia and Massimo Florio a special issue on the economic crisis of the International Journal of Political Economy (40, no. 4), where he contributed on: “Interest, Growth, and Income Distribution: What Ought to Be the Objectives of EU Macroeconomic Policy Coordination?”. In 2013 he published in the Serbian Journal Panoeconomicus on “Finance Capitalism: A Look at the European Financial Accounts” and in 2014 he contributed to a book in honour of Alain Parguez (Monetary Economies of Production. Banking and Financial Circuits and the Role of the state. Louis-Philippe Rochon and Mario Seccareccia ed.). Recently, he also worked and published on the macro-economic outlook and the conditions for economic policy coordination in the Western Balkans.
Alain Delmas is an agent of France telecom and president of CERESA (Centre for studies and economic and social research in Aquitaine). Vice President of the ESEC, he sits on the section for European and international Affairs and Delegation for Women’s Rights and Equal Opportunity, where he represents the CGT Group. He is also the ESEC representative on the “Europe 2020 Steering Committee” of the European Economic and Social Committee.
Joost P. van Iersel began his professional career in 1967 as a civil servant in the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs. Subsequently he was general secretary of a Dutch employers' association. From 1979 until 1994 Mr van Iersel was a Member of the Parliament (Christian Democrats), where he focused on trade and industry and EC matters, and also served as president of the Dutch European Movement. From 1992 until 2002 he was chairman of the Chamber of Commerce of The Hague, where he took a particular interest in regional infrastructure and spatial development in the Randstad (the densely populated region in the west of the country). Mr van Iersel has served on the supervisory board of several companies and social organisations. He has been a member of the EESC since 2002. From 2006 until 2010 he chaired the EESC Consultative Committee on Industrial Change. He subsequently chaired the EESC Steering Committee on Europe 2020. Since April 2013 Mr van Iersel has chaired the EESC's Section for Economic and Monetary Union and Economic and Social Cohesion. His main areas of interest as a rapporteur are industrial and sector policies, (European) metropolitan areas and good EU governance. Mr van Iersel lectures and writes articles on political economy and Europe.
Sandro Gozi is a Member of the Italian Parliament since 2006. Currently he is State Secretary at the Presidency in the Italian Government, in charge of European Affairs. In August 2013 he has been nominee vice-President of the Assembly of the Council of Europe, and from January to May 2014 he has been chosen as vice-president of the Socialist Group at the Assembly of the Council of Europe. From 2006 until 2008 he was the President of the parliamentary Committee on the Schengen, Europol and Immigration Affairs. Between 2008 and 2013 he was then appointed as group leader of the Democratic Party at the parliamentary Commission on EU policies and he was in charge at national level of EU policies for the Democratic Party. From September 2013, he is also an unpaid advisor to the Municipality of Rome on matters related to European funds and projects. From 1995 to 1996 he worked as a diplomat at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In 1996 at the European Commission he was in charge of the relationship with the European Parliament and he took part in the negotiations for the introduction of the Euro. Overall, he has worked as official at the European Commission for 10 years, dealing with institutional affairs, regional cooperation in the Balkans and in the Mediterranean, and matters related to education and culture. In particular, between 2000 and 2004, he was a member of the cabinet of EC President Romano Prodi, and afterward until 2005 he worked in the bureau of European policy advisers of President José Manuel Durao Barroso. In 2005 he worked as a diplomatic advisor of Nichi Vendola, President of the Italian region of Puglia, and then, from 2006 until 2008, as a European policies advisor in the new Prodi government. He is President of the Italy-India Association and between 2004 and 2010 he has been the deputy secretary-general of the European Democratic Party.
As an Economist, he began his career working on Industrial Policy Research and Studies and then undertook roles of great responsibility within the Public Administration. He was formerly the General Managing Director and then Chief of the Competitiveness Department of the Ministry of Economic Development . He created and developed the Industry 2015 program, a plan designed to relaunch the competitivity of the entire Industrial System. He is Chief Managing Director of the Ministry of Economic Development and is currently the Director of the Industrial Policies Department of Confindustria.