“I’m a Policy Officer in the governance unit of the European Commission’s climate department (DG CLIMA), where I have worked with both EU Member States and international partners to accelerate the climate transition. One thing I particularly enjoy about working for the Commission is that you can get a lot of responsibility at an early stage of your career. For example, I have been directly involved in negotiating ambitious climate targets for the Energy Community Contracting Parties. I have also been working with other Commission services and EU Member States to better integrate climate action across some of the largest EU funds. The negative effects of climate change become ever more acute - think of the droughts, heatwaves and storms that have hit Europe this year. Many people are also experiencing hardships because of our dependence on fossil fuels. I therefore very much look forward to seeing the programmes and policies I have been working on being implemented on the ground. It doesn’t happen overnight, but I’m confident there will be more and more tangible results in our day to day lives.”

“I joined the Directorate-General for Energy in 2015, after four years in the European Parliament, where I had followed a range of topics related to external relations of the EU, including the external security of energy supply. In ENER, I first worked as a liaison officer for relations with the EP, then as international relations officer in charge of Turkey and Western Balkans, and now I handle external communication of all our policy initiatives. Over these seven years, I have seen a very impressive evolution the EU's energy policy. In 2015, the word on everyone’s lips was ‘Energy Union’. Designed as a political reaction to Russia’s first invasion of Ukrainian territories in 2014, it gave important impetus to the roll-out of renewable energy sources and to greater, targeted focus on energy efficiency. An impressive body of legislation followed, translating policy priorities into concrete targets, tools and measures, and putting people at the heart of the clean energy transition. Energy is also one of key sectoral policies of the European Green Deal – it underpins many proposals that will allow us to deliver on a climate-neutral Europe by 2050. Finally, over the past year I have been able to witness how European policies bring responses to crisis situations, defying the usual perception of slow bureaucratic processes. The actions undertaken by the EU since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, such as REPowerEU phasing out our dependence on Russian fossil fuels way before 2030, are an inspiration, and contribute to a new page in the history of European energy policy.”