Since 2017, I have been working as a case handler at the European Commission’s competition department, in the team enforcing EU State aid rules for banks in difficulty. I write State aid decisions, conduct complex economic and legal assessments, and coordinate closely with Member State authorities and other EU stakeholders. It is exciting work, involving a delicate balance between protecting financial stability and preventing unfair competition.

Having joined the Commission in 2012, I first worked for five years on the EU’s macroeconomic and budgetary surveillance of one of the largest euro-area countries. Given the public debt crisis then, it was a challenging but also interesting period.

I am trained as an economist and hold a Master’s Degree in Commercial Engineering from the University of Leuven and a postgraduate degree in European Economic Studies from the College of Europe. Before joining the European Commission as an EU official, I worked for two years in strategy consulting, did a blue-book traineeship at the Cabinet of the European Commissioner for Trade, and participated in the Graduate Programme of the European Central Bank.