Written by Richard Freedman,
Have you ever wondered who drafts the content of the EPRS blog? Who are the faces behind the words and images on the blog? Over this holiday period we thought it would be interesting to introduce you to some of the EPRS authors. Our authors write blog pieces based on EPRS publications such as ‘at a glance notes’, ‘briefings‘ and ‘longer studies and in-depth analyses‘ and on events. Their work is often complemented by infographics prepared by our statisticians.
With several academic degrees including PhDs between them, and expertise in many areas of EU affairs, from the EU budget procedure to space and nuclear policy, below is a selection of our authors’ biographies. By nature, working in the EU institutions all of our authors are multilingual. They have wide research experience at universities, in think tanks, within the public and private sectors and many have previously worked for the EU institutions in other roles.
Find out a little more about some of the EPRS authors, their biographical details but also the faces behind the words. Get to know for example who is the EPRS expert on cyber capacity building or on the European Regional Development Fund.
Selected authors
Laurence Amand-Eeckhout, Policy Anaylst in the Publications Management and Editorial Unit
Laurence Amand-Eeckhout has worked at the European Commission for the Secretariat-General and DG COMM (political reporting and media analysis). She currently works at the European Parliament Research Service as a policy analyst in the editorial unit.
See all publications by Laurence Amand-Eeckhout
Didier Bourguignon, Policy Analyst in the fields of environment and energy
Didier Bourguignon has worked as a translator and as an administrator at the Committee of the Regions. He currently works at the European Parliament Research Service as a policy analyst in the field of environment and energy. He has published contributions in the Revue du marché commun et de l’Union européenne and the Revue de l’énergie.
See all publications by Didier Bourguignon
Alina Dobreva, Policy Analyst in the field of communication of EU budgetary policies
Alina Dobreva is an expert on EU media policy, political communication, media and democratisation, public opinion, and elections. Dr Dobreva’s research experience includes a variety of projects ranging from academic and NGO research to public opinion and marketing research, including a number of international comparative studies, such as Media Pluralism Monitor, Comparative Study of Electoral Systems, and the British Academy-funded “Political Communications in New Democracies. Government-Media Relations in Transition”. She has worked as a researcher at the European University Institute’s (EUI) Centre for Media Pluralism and Media Freedom (CMPF), as a researcher and lecturer at the University of Leeds and as a fellow at the University of Oxford. She has also contributed to various electoral campaigns through studies, planning and execution. Alina has worked in the Ministry of Finance in Bulgaria.
Alina is an author and co-author of numerous academic and policy publications on European media policy, political communication, democratisation, public opinion and electoral studies.
See all publications by Alina Dobreva
Patryk Pawlak, Policy Analyst in the fields of cybersecurity and terrorism
Dr Patryk Pawlak is a Policy Analyst at the External Policies Unit of the Members’ Research Service. At the European Parliamentary Research Service, he deals primarily with questions related to cybersecurity and terrorism. He is also responsible for monitoring political, social and security developments in Syria, Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan. Before joining the European Parliament, Patryk was a Senior Analyst at the European Union Institute for Security Studies (EUISS) in Paris where he managed several projects, including the EUISS Cyber Task Force and EU-US Task Force on Transatlantic Strategies in the Asia-Pacific Region. During his career, Patryk has cooperated with numerous research institutions, universities and international organisations worldwide. His work on cyber-related issues, terrorism and European Union’s security policies has appeared in several peer-reviewed journals and edited volumes. Patryk holds a PhD in Political Science from the European University Institute in Florence and Masters in Advanced European Studies from the College of Europe.
See all publications by Patryk Pawlak
Vincent Reillon, Policy Analyst in the fields of science, space and nuclear policies
Vincent Reillon has worked as a Scientific Attaché for the Offices for Science and Technology of the French Ministry for Foreign Affairs in the USA and Spain. He then worked for Science Europe as Senior Scientific Officer. He currently works at the European Parliamentary Research Service as a policy analyst in the fields of science, space and nuclear policies.
See all publications byVincent Reillon
Martin Russell, Policy Analyst in the fields of Russia and Southeast Asia
Martin Russell worked as an EU Translator in the Committee of the Regions. He worked previously as an English teacher and lecturer/teacher trainer in Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland and Brunei. He now works as a policy analyst at the European Parliamentary Research Service specialising in Russia and Southeast Asia.
See all publications by Martin Russell
Magdalena Sapała, Policy Analyst in the fields of EU budget and EU cohesion policy
Magdalena Sapała holds a PhD in economics with a specialisation in European integration. She is an expert on the EU budget and EU cohesion policy. Magdalena works as a policy analyst at the Budgetary Policies Unit. Her academic experience includes positions as a research professor at the Institute for European Studies of the Vrije Universiteit Brussel in Belgium and as an assistant professor at the European Studies Department of the Poznan University of Economics in Poland. She was a fellow of the EU ‘Jean Monnet Programme’. Magdalena has a broad range of experience working as a trainer, expert and adviser for think tanks, business and public administration at all levels. Magdalena is an author and academic editor of numerous publications on European integration, EU cohesion policy and the EU budget.
See all publications by Magdalena Sapała
Gianluca Sgueo, Policy Analyst in the field of EU budget and civil society organisations’ accountability
Gianluca Sgueo graduated in Law (University of Rome, La Sapienza, 2004) and in Political Sciences (University of Viterbo, 2006). He taught at the University of Viterbo (2011, Media Law; 2012-2014 European Law), at the Bocconi University (2013, “Lobbying and Democracy”). From 2011 to 2015 he has been Department Director at I-Com (Institute for competitiveness – a think tank devoted to economic and social analysis), before starting in the European Parliament.
See all publications by Gianluca Sgueo
Biliana Tzarnoretchka, Policy Analyst in the fields of ex-post impact assessment and evaluation
Before starting in the European Parliament Biliana Tzarnoretchka has worked in different fields, including business development and project management of EU funded projects. She currently works at the European Parliament Research Service as a policy analyst in the field of ex-post impact assessment and evaluation and more specifically on budgetary control and audit topics.
See all publications by Biliana Tzarnoretchka
Thomas Zandstra, Parliamentary Research Administrator in the European Added Value Unit
Thomas Zandstra was a senior policy adviser Governance and Europe at Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations; then from 2012 to 2014 he was a seconded national expert to the Council of Europe. Since 2014, he is a seconded national expert to the European Parliament.
See all publications by Thomas Zandstra
