Manuel SZAPIRO

Course offered: La Commission européenne en pers/pros-pective : métiers, mutations, réformes (30h) 

Manuel Szapiro is currently Director of the Commission's regional representation in Barcelona. Previously, he was Deputy Head of Cabinet of Vice-President Maroš Šefčovič, responsible for inter-institutional relations and strategic foresight.

Manuel Szapiro joined the European Commission in March 2003 as a member of the Task Force on the Future of the Union, which reported to the President (preparation of the European Convention). In 2008, he was appointed Deputy Head of Unit for Institutional Issues and Better Regulation in the Secretariat General of the European Commission. For three years he also helped to set up the European Joint Undertaking for ITER and the development of fusion energy in Barcelona. After serving as Head of Unit for Institutional Affairs at the Secretariat-General of the European Commission, Manuel Szapiro joined the cabinet of Vice-President Maroš Šefčovič, then in charge of the Energy Union, in 2014. In this capacity, he prepared and deployed at policy level a series of projects to accelerate the ecological transition in Europe, including: the European Battery Alliance, the mobilisation of support for all coal regions undergoing industrial conversion, the launch of public-private partnerships for disruptive innovation (e.g.: the financial instrument "Breakthrough Energy Europe" jointly with Bill Gates Ventures; or the Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate with Mike Bloomberg).

Before joining the European Commission (2003), Manuel Szapiro worked as a senior lecturer at the European Institute of Public Administration (Maastricht) on the training of governments and administrations in the then candidate countries.

For almost ten years, Manuel Szapiro also taught European affairs to Masters students at the Institut d'Etudes Politiques de Paris (Sciences Po) as a lecturer and then as director of studies (European public administration; preparation for EU competitions).

A former academic assistant and student at the College of Europe in Bruges (Leonardo da Vinci class), Manuel Szapiro has been a visiting professor there since 2006. He has recently published a book and reference articles on the European Commission, linked to his course at the College of Europe.