EIF-GSMA High-Level Hybrid Discussion: Europe’s Digital Transformation

Former Minister of Education and Culture from 2000 to 2004, del Castillo was elected to the European Parliament for the first time in 2004. She is a member of the European People’s Party (EPP) and belongs to the Committee on Industry, Research and Energy (ITRE).

She has been, among others, the European Parliament’s rapporteur on the European Electronic Communications Code; the Telecoms Single Market Regulation; the Directive on Security of Networks and Information Systems for the ITRE committee; the Regulation on the Body of European Regulators in Electronic Communications’ (BEREC); the report on Cloud Computing Strategy for Europe and the Report “A Digital Agenda for Europe: 2015.eu.

She is Co-Chair of the Artificial Intelligence and Digital Intergroup and member of the European Parliament Special Committee on Artificial Intelligence in a Digital Age.

She is the Chair of the European Parliament Delegation for relations with the countries of the Andean Community.

Del Castillo is Vice President of the European Energy Forum and member of the Transatlantic Policy Network and the Board of Knowledge4Innovation (K4I).

Del Castillo is Professor in Political Science and Administration. She obtained a PhD in Law from Universidad Complutense. Before, she had attended Ohio State University on a Fulbright scholarship, graduating with a Master’s degree in Political Science.

She was the Executive President of the Centro de Investigaciones Sociológicas (Sociology Research Centre) from 1996 to 2000.

Daniel leads the GSMA’s global engagement on mobile-sector regulatory affairs. Under his direction, the GSMA is contributing new ideas and analysis to the global policy dialogue at a time when emerging digital technologies and widespread broadband connectivity are reshaping society and the economy.

Daniel also leads the GSMA activities in Europe, Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). He is responsible for all Advocacy Initiatives (Public Policy, Spectrum, Mobile for Development, External Affairs), Strategic Engagement and Industry Programmes (Future Networks, Identity, Internet of Things) of the GSMA in the wider European region.

Daniel has a unique record of strategic input into Europe’s telecommunications policy agenda, having previously served as head of Hungary’s National Regulatory Authority, chair of the European Regulators Group (ERG, now BEREC) and chair of the European Radio Spectrum Policy Group (RSPG). More recently, Daniel was Director General of the European Telecommunications Network Operators’ association (ETNO).

He holds a MSc in Economics from the Budapest University of Economics and a Postgraduate Diploma from a leading French institutional programme led by Ecole de Mines, Ecole des Ponts and Sciences-Po.

He was awarded the Officer’s Cross of the Order of the Republic of Hungary in 2009 for his work in EU electronic communication regulation and the Order of Merit (Knight’s Cross) of the Republic of Hungary in 2005 for his work promoting the development of the information and communications technology sector.

Anthony Whelan currently works as digital policy adviser in the cabinet (private office) of European Commission President von der Leyen.
He was previously the Director for Electronic Communications Networks & Services at the European Commission since 2013, designing and negotiating EU initiatives on topics such as net neutrality, roaming reform, the revision of the telecoms regulatory framework, and the financing of advanced broadband networks.
A barrister, he has lectured and researched in public law at Trinity College Dublin and has worked as a lawyer at the European Court of Justice and in the Legal Service of the European Commission. Between 2008 and 2013, he was head of the cabinet of EU Commissioner Neelie Kroes in the competition and digital agenda portfolios.

Originally from Avilés, she is an Industrial Engineer from the University of Oviedo and a Machine Engineer from the Fachhochschule of Osnabrück (Germany). She holds an Executive MBA and a Master’s Degree in Marketing Management from the Instituto de Empresa in Madrid.

She has 19 years of professional experience in several multinationals in Germany (Mercedes Benz, Bosch) and in Spain (Rexel, Essilor and Johnson&Johnson) where she held managerial positions until her election as Member of the Assembly of Madrid in 2015.

Since May 2019, she is a Member of the European Parliament in the Committees on Regional Development; Industry, Research and Energy; Environment, Public Health and Food Safety; Women’s Rights and Gender Equality and in the Special Committee on Artificial Intelligence in a Digital Age.

Member of the European Parliament for the electoral district of Middle Rhine (Cologne, Bonn, Leverkusen, Rhein-Sieg-and Rhein-Erft-Kreis), North Rhine-Westphalia

• since 2014 Member, Committee on Legal Affairs
• since 2017 Speaker of the EPP group, Committee on Legal Affairs
• 2014-2016 Vice-Chair, Committee on Legal Affairs
• 2009-2014 Member and since 2014 Substitute Member, Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs
• Vice-Chair of the Delegation for relations with Australia and New Zealand
• Member of the Delegation for relations with the countries of South Asia
• 2012-2014 Member, Special Committee on Organised Crime, Corruption and Money Laundering
• 2009-2014 Member, Delegation to the Euro-Latin American Parliamentary Assembly

Cristian-Silviu Bușoi is a Member of the European Parliament and Chair of the Industry, Research and Energy Committee. He is also Member of the Delegation for Southeast Asia, as well as substitute Member of the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety (ENVI), Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs (ECON) and the Delegation for the Arab Peninsula. Mr. Busoi graduated Medicine from Carol Davila University in Bucharest, Law from Titu Maiorescu University in Bucharest, and Diplomacy from the Romanian Diplomatic Institute in Bucharest. His political career started in 1996 when, as a student, he became member of the National Liberal Party. Eight years later, he entered the Romanian Parliament and, in 2013, became President of the Romanian National Health Insurance House. Since 2007, he has been elected to the European Parliament for three consecutive terms.

Ricardo Castanheira is the digital counsellor coordinator at the Permanent Representation of Portugal to the European Union (REPER), in Brussels since 2017. Before that, he was general manager at Motion Picture Association – Latin America from 2013 to 2017, which represents institutionally one of the biggest studios in the world: Walt Disney, Warner Bros., Sony Pictures, Universal, Paramount and recently Netflix. Castanheira was also the director of corporate affairs for Microsoft Brazil from 2011 to 2013 and legal and corporate affairs lead at Microsoft Portugal from 2007 to 2011 and CEO of FDTI (Foundation for the Promotion of Information Technologies), in Lisbon, between 2005 and 2007. He has also been the youngest member of the Portuguese Parliament between 1995 and 2002 elected for Coimbra. He has also been a member of the NATO Assembly from 1999 to 2002 and a petitioner of the “Committee of the 24” at the United Nations, in New York. Castanheira graduated in Law by the University of Coimbra and he holds diverse additional post-graduations: on Negotiation by the University of Harvard – John F. Kennedy School of Government, on Communication Management by Getúlio Vargas Foundation (Brazil), an Advanced Management Program (AMP) by Instituto de Empresa – Business School (Madrid) and a Mini – MBA by INDEG Business School (Lisbon).

Eva Kaili is a Member of the European Parliament, part of the Hellenic S&D Delegation since 2014. She is the Chair of the Future of Science and Technology Panel in the European Parliament (STOA) and the Centre for Artificial Intelligence (C4AI), Member of the Committees on Industry, Research and Energy (ITRE), Economic and Monetary Affairs (ECON), Budgets (BUDG), and the Special Committee on Artificial Intelligence in a Digital Age (AIDA).

Eva is a member of the delegation to the ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly (DACP), the delegation for relations with the Arab Peninsula (DARP), and the delegation for relations with the NATO Parliamentary Assembly (DNAT).

In her capacity, she has been working intensively on promoting innovation as a driving force of the establishment of the European Digital Single Market. She has been the draftsperson of multiple pieces of legislation in the fields of blockchain technology, online platforms, big data, fintech, AI and cybersecurity, as well as the ITRE draftsperson on Juncker plan EFSI2 and more recently the InvestEU program.

She has also been the Chair of the Delegation to the NATO PA in the European Parliament, focusing on Defence and Security of Europe.

Prior to that, she has been elected as a Member of the Hellenic Parliament 2007-2012, with the PanHellenic Socialist Movement (PASOK).

She also worked as a journalist and newscaster prior to her political career.

She holds a Bachelor degree in Architecture and Civil Engineering, and Postgraduate degree in European Politics.

Bart Groothuis is a Member of the European Parliament on behalf of the Dutch People’s Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD), which is part of the liberal political group Renew Europe. He is a member of the Industry, Research and Energy committee and a substitute member for the committee Security and Defence. In the European Parliament, he focuses on cybersecurity, especially in his role as Rapporteur of the NIS II Directive, the energy transition and disinformation and foreign interference. Before Bart became a Member of the European Parliament in February 2020, he was head cybersecurity for the Dutch Ministry of Defence.

Michel Van Bellinghen, Master of Laws (UCL), started off at the university in 1990 as a researcher, then became an assistant under the supervision of Professor Françoise Tulkens, at the UCL Laws Centre for Criminal Law.

He became an assistant advisor at the Ministry of Justice in 1992 under the supervision of Professor Marc Bossuyt and joined the BIPT in 1997. From 1999 to 2003 he held the position of expert at the private office of Rik Daems, who was the Federal Telecommunications Minister at the time, and afterwards took up the function of Assistant Head of the Private Office. From 2003 until 2009 he was nominated Member of the BIPT Council for the first time. Following this mandate he remained closely affiliated to the Council and supervised the legal department of the regulator during a number of years. He has written scientific publications.

In 2013 he held a position on the Council as a Member. In January 2017 he was assigned Chairman of the BIPT Council. Michel Van Bellinghen has been elected to serve as Chair of BEREC in 2021.

Magnus Franklin is a Managing Director at strategy and communications consultancy Teneo, based in Brussels. He currently advises clients across a broad range of topics including cybersecurity, data, telecoms and digital platforms. Before joining Teneo in 2018, Magnus was responsible for the telecom and technology reporting at regulatory and legal news agency MLex Market Insights, where he followed technology regulation closely for a decade since 2008. Magnus studied journalism and economics at City University London and is a Swedish national.