Speakers

Oliver Röpke was elected as the president of the EESC in April 2023. Member of EESC since 2009, Mr Röpke was the president of the EESC Workers' Group, a member of the EESC Bureau and rapporteur of many EESC resolutions and opinions on employment and social policy, single market and innovation.

Mr Röpke headed the Brussels office of the Austrian Trade Union Federation (ÖGB) and took on several senior positions including as ÖGB representative to the EU institutions, the Executive Committee of the ETUC, and an advisory member of the ÖGB federal executive board. Mr Röpke has a legal background and holds a law degree from the University of Vienna.

Paula Pinho has been Director at the Directorate-General Energy in the European Commission since April 2021.

She is responsible for Just Transition, Consumers, Energy Security, Efficiency and Innovation. A Portuguese national and lawyer by training, Ms Pinho draws on her extensive knowledge of various EU policies, and in particular EU energy policy, as well as her leadership and negotiation skills towards her commitment to Europe’s clean and just energy transition and energy security.

Previously, Ms Pinho was Acting Director for Energy Policy, where she has overseen notably the work of international energy relations, financial instruments and inter-institutional relations and has represented the Commission in the negotiation of several legislative proposals.

Between 2004 and 2015, Ms Pinho served as a Member of Cabinet for several EU Commissioners, including Commissioner for Energy Günther Oettinger, both in his quality of Commissioner for Digital Economy and Society and during his mandate as EU Commissioner for Energy. She was then responsible for energy security and infrastructure and the overall coordination of the international dimension of energy policy. In that capacity, she was directly involved in the trilateral gas talks between the EU, Russia and Ukraine.

Other functions included the Directorate General for Internal Market and Directorate General for Trade, where Ms. Pinho coordinated the FTA agreement negotiations with the Gulf countries, Mercosur and Chile.

Paula speaks fluently Portuguese, German, English and French, as well as Spanish and Italian.

Mrs Abreu Marques is since January 2021 Deputy Director in the European Commission’s department of Energy, "DG ENER.A - Energy policy: Strategy and Coordination", and Head of Unit DG ENER.A1, where she manages the interface with the other EU institutions, including the rotating Presidencies and European Council preparations. She coordinates the implementation of the overall EU energy policy intervention, including the 2022 REPower EU Plan and emergency measures, the European Green Deal and the Governance of the Energy Union. She oversees the related planning and internal procedures and coordinates DG ENER priority work and preparations for the next Commission’s mandate. 

Previously, Mrs Abreu Marques had been heading for several years the unit responsible for the definition and implementation of the EU renewables’ policy, being in charge of the preparation, negotiation and implementation of the Renewables’ Directive (REDII), as well as the 2020 Energy System Integration and Hydrogen Strategies. Before then she was heading the “International Energy Relations and Enlargement” unit, where she defined and steered the general approach in the area of international energy relations. She graduated in economics at the Nova School of Business and Economics in Lisbon and has a master in European economics by the College of Europe in Bruges, Belgium. 

András EDELÉNYI

Graduated as a chemical engineer from the legal predecessor of the Pannon University, in Veszprém. Technical doctor thesis defended in 1974. Executive management postgraduate studies in the Dartmouth College and the Duke University, USA.

21 years in the Taurus Hungarian Rubber Works, starting in managerial jobs of the research and development area. For 9 years acting as executive vice president of the Taurus Group. At the French Group Schneider Electric, 7 years as country director Hungary, after regional director of M&A in Central and Eastern Europe. Since 2006, consultant in top management.

Past secretary general of the Federation of European Chemical Societies, board member of the Chemical Engineering Federation. Member of the Hungarian, the French-Hungarian and the German-Hungarian chambers of commerce and industry, invited lecturer

Since 2015, member of the Employers’ Group in the European Economic and Social Committee.

Katharina Habersbrunner (f) is board member at Bündnis Bürgerenergie BEEn, the umbrella association for citizen’s energy in Germany, advocating for an ambitious decentralized and socially just energy transition. She is senior energy expert at Women Engage for a Common Future (WECF), an international NGO with focus on sustainable development.

Her professional expertise is decentralized citizen’s energy projects, local energy markets, energy efficiency, energy poverty and advocating for socially-sound and gender-just energy solutions on national and international level. The energy programs include projects in Europe, Africa and Central Asia.

Katharina was awarded for the “Women in Energy” by the European Commission in 2020. She holds a diploma in mathematics, a master’s degree in education and psychology and an MBA in sustainability management with focus on renewable energy. 

Ferdinando Vasco CHIRONDA is dedicated human rights advocate passionate about creating positive change. He serves as a Policy & Advocacy Officer for the European Anti-Poverty Network (EAPN) in Brussels, where he is deeply committed to addressing issues of energy poverty and promoting a socially just transition at the EU level.

Carlotta is Vice President of the European Youth Energy Network, the network of European youth organisations active in the energy transition. EYEN wants to build a future where the European youth is instrumental in shaping a just and sustainable energy transition, by building intergenerational trust, equipping youth with adequate knowledge and skills and creating spaces for them to act. Established in 2020, EYEN unites 16 youth-led energy-focused organisations operating in more than 15 countries at European, national, and local levels. EYEN focuses on developing projects to provide young people with opportunities to take action, bring youth organisations together, link them with stakeholders in the energy sector, and innovate youth engagement within the energy transition. In April 2023, Carlotta sponsored the creation of the Young Energy Consumers (YEC) Task Force, a team of young energy researchers and changemakers working on an ambitious goal: making young energy consumers more visible in EU policy. Since its creation, the task force has been building knowledge on youth as an energy consumer group in Europe. It sheds light into their specific challenges and provides success examples on how they can be included in policy-making.

Dora Biondani, works for Climate Alliance as Project Manager for the on-going Energy Poverty Advisory Hub, the leading EU initiative run by the European Commission at the request of the European Parliament, to eradicate energy poverty and accelerate the just energy transition of European local governments. She holds a Master Degree in Engineering and an MBA in Energy and Sustainability. Dora has worked both for the profit and no profit sector managing projects on renewable energies, circular economy and sustainability. She worked as Project Manager and Head of Mission in the international cooperation field, gaining experience on European Union external actions in South East Asia and the MENA regions. In both the countries she coordinated a portfolio of various project exploring the connection between environment, energy and vulnerable beneficiaries. She had the opportunity to work in strict contact with local governmental institutions and private companies, facilitating Public Private Partnerships.

Ben Lennon is the Climate, Industry and Energy Advisor at the ETUC. Before taking up this role he worked with the UK NGO Platform on planning a just transition for fossil fuel, agri and construction workers in the UK. Previously he was a strike organiser for workers on zero-hour contracts in the service sector in London.

Karine LALIEUX

On the occasion of the federal government, Karine Lalieux is appointed Minister for Pensions.

As part of her duties, Karine Lalieux will have the honor of introducing the pension reform that is urgently needed to preserve our social security system.
Biographie | Karine Lalieux (belgium.be)

Tadhg O’Briain works at the European Commission’s Directorate General for Energy covering Consumers, Local Initiatives and Just transition.  Tadhg was a member of the Task Force on Brexit under Michel Barnier and previously worked in the Commission’s Secretariat General. 

Before joining the Commission, Tadhg worked on Ireland - Northern Ireland single electricity market as well as working in financial services, including as assistant to Deutsche Bank chief economist Professor Norbert Walter.

Giorgos Koukoufikis is a researcher and project manager at the Joint Research Centre (JRC) of the European Commission. He specializes in the social impacts of energy-related policies. His work focuses on addressing energy poverty and ensuring just and empowering transitions in the energy and transport sectors. Prior to his current role, Giorgos was involved in research on energy communities in Greece and served as a policy advisor at the European Parliament. He holds a PhD in urban studies exploring the impacts of socioeconomic crises on urban socioecological transformations. His contributions are notable in the realm of energy poverty, advocating for policies that enhance access to clean and renewable energy and promote ownership and empowerment within communities.

Teppo SÄKKINEN is a Climate expert from the Finnish Chamber of Commerce. He has been a member of the Employers group of the EESC since 2023, and is the rapporteur of the ongoing EESC opinion on EU climate target for 2040.

Giulia Nardi is working at Climate Action Network Europe as Climate and Energy Policy Officer. Her work is focused on the EU LIFE "Together for 1.5" project and she advocates for the submission and implementation of effective National Energy and Climate plans in line with the Paris Agreement objectives. Her background also includes a strong scientific component as a MSc graduate in Sustainable Industrial Chemistry and due to her previous work on Industrial Transformation policy.

Emiliano graduated from the University of Bologna with a master’s degree in Diplomatic and International Studies. He started his career in Brussels as trainee at the Region Emilia-Romagna EU Delegation, where he focused on energy policy and regional development. At the International Union of Tenants, he is working on policies related to housing affordability, security of tenure, tenant protection,  just transition and the fight against energy poverty. He actively participates in advocacy and representation activities to promote the interests of tenants within the EU institutions.

Heleen Schockaert works with REScoop.eu as a Project Manager for the EU-funded project CEES, which refers to Community Energy for Energy Solidarity. She focuses on how energy cooperatives take action to alleviate energy poverty, encourage energy sobriety and on how to improve their overall social inclusiveness. On behalf of REScoop.eu, she took a seat in the Right to Energy Coalition where like-minded NGOs in Brussels share intelligence and prepare joint actions around energy poverty and social justice in the energy transition.

Catarina is graduated in management. Currently she is a Senior Officer at markets division in Directorate-General for Energy and Geology in Portugal, where they develop some work in the development and establishment of the long-term national strategy to tackle energy poverty and the national energy poverty observatory. Within this context, she is one of the Portuguese members of the Energy Poverty and Vulnerable Consumers Coordination Group from DG ENER. She participates in the meetings, sharing Portuguese work and updates on this subject, as well as learning from the experiences and best practices shared by the Commission, Member States, and other entities/stakeholders.