The College of Europe in Natolin organised a lecture titled: "EU's Neighbourhood and Strategies for EU Enlargement" by Mr Gert Jan KOOPMAN, Director-General for Neighbourhood and Enlargement Negotiations of the European Commission.
The lecture was of paramount importance, especially in light of the current transformations occurring in the EU's Neighbourhood. It offered students an exclusive opportunity to learn about the EU's latest strategies for its Neighbourhood countries directly from a high-level guest in charge of implementing them. The students gained insights into the challenges and opportunities involved in reaching these strategic goals.
About the guest speaker:
As of January 2023, Mr Gert Jan KOOPMAN is the Director-General of the Neighbourhood and Enlargement Negotiations.
Between 2018 and December 2022, he was the Director-General of the European Commission’s budget department. In this role, he contributed to putting in place the European Union’s €800 billion NextGenerationEU recovery plan as well as the €18 billion MFA+ for Ukraine. He has worked to enable its financing on the capital markets through a sovereign-style funding system.
Mr KOOPMAN has been serving the EU for roughly three decades. Previously, he was in charge of State Aid Control at the Commission’s Directorate-General for Competition. His earlier assignments included senior management posts in the department for Economic and Financial Affairs – the Commission’s economic service - as well as Enterprise and Industry which supervises the smooth running of the single market.
In the past, Mr KOOPMAN was a member of the Commission’s Impact Assessment Board, in charge of assessing whether the draft EU legislation would achieve the desired results and worked in the private office of Vice-President KINNOCK – lastly as a Head of Cabinet. Prior to joining the Commission, Mr KOOPMAN was an associate of the CPB Netherlands Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis, an independent research institute that prepares policy analysis for the Dutch government.
A Dutch national, he holds degrees in Economics, as well as Latin and Greek from the University of Amsterdam.
Below you can find some photo highlights from the event:
