International Conference EU Funds European Annual Symposium

Helen AnijalgFormer Director, Enterprise Estonia

Helen Anijalg is Certified Internal Auditor and Certified Government Audit Professional. She has worked as Head of Internal Audit Unit in Enterprise Estonia, which is a state agency for business and regional policy in Estonia and the Implementation Agency for EU Funds between 2004-2018 and also for 2014-2020 period. Previously she worked 10 years at the Estonian Ministry of Finance, in the Estonian Audit Authority of EU Structural Funds. She has been the member of Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA) since 2002 and during past 15 years twice the board member of IIA Estonia.

Tommy AnjevallHead of Finance and Control Unit, Agency for Economic and Regional Growth, Sweden

Tommy Anjevall has been Head of Finance and Control Unit at the Agency for Economic and Regional Growth since 2009. Prior to this position he was Acting Head of Unit for two years. In previous Programming Periods he was involved in the Second Level Control of the Objectives 1, 2 and INTERREG IIIa (2002-2007) and in the First Level Control of the 1 Objective (1999-2001) at the County Administration Board Jämtland, Sweden.

Béatrice BaumannInspector General of Finance, Head of the Federal Audit Cell of the Inspectorate of Finance for the European Funds, Interfederal Corps of the Inspectorate of Finance, Belgium

Béatrice Baumann has been a member of the Inspectorate of Finance since 2010. She is currently the Audit Authority for the three European Funds AMIF, ISF and FEAD. In the very end of 2014, she was asked to take over the Audit Authority in charge with the ESF 2007/2013 at federal level, and the SOLID funds at national level. Prior, she was assigned to the classic assignments of the Inspectorate of Finance, and was appointed to the federal Ministers of Finance, Budget and Sustainable Development as an independent controller and adviser. In this capacity, she developed a strong expertise in the ex ante control of public procurement, among others. Before that, she assisted the Wrapping-Up Body (former name of the Audit Authority) in the closure process of the 2000-2006 programming period of ESF at federal level. She is an recognized expert in internal control and audit since 2007 within the Belgian Federal Administration.

Jana ChaloupkováMember of the Certifying Authority, Ministry of Finance, Czech Republic

Jana Chaloupková is a Member of the Certifying Authority of the Czech Republic. She has been working on the preparation of the payment applications and accounts for the ERDF programmes in the Czech Republic since 2014. She is responsible for regional operational programmes and programmes concerning enterprises and industry. Her main expertise is in the field of the N+3 rule, calculation of payment applications and monitoring of the financial implementation in the Czech Republic. Moreover, she is closely focused on financial instruments as she is responsible for the settings of FIs national rules. She also takes part in setting up the procedures for upcoming programming period 2021-2027.

Florin DascalescuSenior Legal Counsel, Legal Service, European Investment Fund (EIF)

Florin Dascalescu has been working as a Legal Counsel at the EIB Group since 2012, initially at the European Investment Bank and currently at the European Investment Fund. In this position, he is responsible for legal matters linked to the implementation of financial instruments under EU Structural Funds (both the 2007-2013 and 2014-2020 programming periods), including contractual documentation with the managing authorities and State aid issues. Prior to joining the EIB Group, Florin was an associate at a law firm based in Brussels, specialising in EU law, especially EU trade defence measures (anti-dumping/anti-subsidy) and EU Competition Law.

Dr Balázs DencsőDirector General, Ministry of National Economy, Hungary

Dr Balázs Dencső has been Head of the Directorate General for Audit of European Funds (DGAEF), which is the Audit Authority for structural funds in Hungary since the establishing of the authority in 2010. The DGAEF is responsible for preparing the strategy and planning, performing auditing as well as preparing control reports and closure declarations. Between 2003 and 2010, Balázs Dencső was working at the Ministry of Finance in the Central Harmonisation Unit which was responsible for the coordination and harmonisation of the European and national funds’ control and audit.

Susana Isabel Magalhães MonteiroHead of Division of EU Funds Management , General Secretariat of the Ministry of Home Affairs

Susana Monteiro is the Head of Division of EU Funds Management at the General Secretariat of the Ministry of Home Affairs, since December 2019. This General Secretariat acts as the Responsible Authority for the Home Affairs Financial Instruments, notably AMIF and ISF, in Portugal. She is also Assistant Professor at ISEG-Lisbon School of Economics & Management, University of Lisbon, since 2016. She has more than 10 years of experience in the Cohesion Funds (2007-2013 and 2014-2020), notably in monitoring, evaluation and regional studies (Agency for Development and Cohesion). She is a former evaluator of projects and social policies. As well as former trainer and consultant in: Motivation, leadership and team management, Planning, monitoring and evaluation, Quality management, Implementation of structural funds and Social development and territorial strategic planning.

Merike NiitepõldHead of Managing Authority Central Baltic Programme, Regional Council of South-West Finland

Since 2011 Merike Niitepõld has been working at the Managing Authority of the Central Baltic Interreg Programme. Before that Merike Niitepõld had both worked in the Joint Secretariat of the Central Baltic programme and been involved in the programming for the periods 2007-2013 and 2014-2020. In the years 2001-2008 Merike Niitepõld worked in the management of Interreg projects and other environmental projects.

Grzegorz Orawiec Directorate General for Regional and Urban Policy Unit F3 - Programmes and Projects in Poland, European Commission

Grzegorz Orawiec is the President of the Board of the Centre for Business Promotion in Sandomierz (Poland). He coordinates the system for SMEs based on financial instruments and vouchers scheme. Before he was the Director of the Regional Policy Department in the Marshal’s Office of the Świetokrzyskie Regional (2012 -2019). Before that, he was President of the Board of the Regional Centre for Innovation and Technology Transfer in Kielce. He has been working on preparation and supervision of EU funded projects in various international, national and regional institutions for over 15 years. In 2007/2008, Grzegorz Orawiec worked in the Delegation of the EC in Skopje, where he prepared IPA funded projects. In addition, he has been Lecturer at universities in Poland and Germany (regional development). Since 2004, he co-operates as Expert with TAIEX Programme of the European Commission and regularly holds lectures in the fields of strategic development, EU Funds and public procurement.

Nataša PrahHead of Unit, Ministry of Finance, Slovenia

Nataša Prah was a Director of the Budget Supervision Office of the Republic of Slovenia, responsible for auditing EU funds, public internal financial control and budgetary inspection for 11 years. Now she works as a Head of Unit, responsible for auditing European Funds. Working for eight years in accountancy and statutory auditing and fifteen years in public sector auditing, she has accumulated an impressive experience in auditing. She has been awarded the title Verified Statutory Auditor (chartered accountant) by the Slovenian Institute of Auditors as well as she has been given the title of a Verified State Internal Auditor (issued by CIPFA) and a Verified State Auditor (issued by the Slovenian Supreme Audit Institution). As a lecturer in the process of acquiring the qualification of Certified Public Accountant and Verified State Internal Auditor, performed under the supervision of CIPFA, she is responsible for two modules: Cost Accounting and Auditing Management Performance.

Susanna RafalzikSenior Auditor, European Court of Auditors

Since 1994 Susanna Rafalzik has been working in the field of the European Regional Policy and the EU Structural Funds. Since April 2018, she has been Auditor in Chamber II where she is working in both, the Statement of Assurance audit (DAS) and in the performance audit. From 1999 until the beginning of 2018, Susanna Rafalzik was Director of the Audit Authority for the ERDF in Austria at the Federal Chancellery in Vienna.

Jerónimo Ríos BoetaHead of the ERDF spanish Certifying Authority, Government of Spain - Ministry of the Treasury and Public Administrations

Jerónimo Ríos Boeta is the Head of the ERDF spanish Certifying Authority in the Government of Spain - Ministry of the Treasury and Public Administrations. He is the Assistant Director General of European Funds in the spanish Ministry of Finances. He leads the Certifying Authority Team, with a 16 people staff. Sharing experiences with others is one of his best hobbies.

Bernd SchuhEvaluation Expert and Member of the Board of Directors, Austrian Institute for Regional Studies and Spatial Planning, Austria

Bernd Schuh is Senior Expert and Member of the Board of Directors of the Austrian Institute for Regional Studies and Spatial Planning (ÖIR). He has vast experience in the fields such as economic, agricultural and environmental policy on EU level. In addition, he is a Member of the European Working Group on Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis Methods. Bernd Schuh has notably worked on structural funds evaluations, spatial monitoring of structural funds effects in terms of urban development as well as social issues and sustainability of structural funds implementation. He has profound experiences in evaluation practice and theory – being an advisor for international, national and regional authorities and a university lecturer at two universities in Vienna as well as a guest lecturer at different universities in Rome, Seville and Sheffield.

Felix SchulyokCase Handler, European Commission

Felix Schulyok has been Case Handler State Aid at DG Competition of the European Commission since 2013. Since 2016, he is working at the State aid Policy and Case support Unit. Previously, Felix Schulyok was dealing with State aid for infrastructure projects as well as with State aid for industrial restructuring. Before entering DG Competition, he worked as Assistant at the University of Copenhagen on European Constitutional Law.

Till SpannagelReferent, Bundesministerium für Wirtschaft und Energie

Till Spannagel (Volljurist) ist seit 2009 im Bundesministerium für Wirtschaft und Energie (BMWi) tätig und seit März 2016 im Bereich der EU-Strukturfonds im Einsatz. Hauptaufgaben im Referat für die Koordinierung der EU-Kohäsions- und Strukturfonds sind die Abstimmungen der Positionen der Bundesregierung zu Gesetzesvorschlägen der EU-Kommission sowie zur künftigen Ausrichtung der Kohäsionspolitik. Zuvor war Till Spannagel ein Jahr an der Ständigen Vertretung Deutschlands bei den Vereinten Nationen in New York(2015), im EU-Vergaberecht (2013-1014) sowie im Grundsatzreferat für Energiepolitik (2009-2012) beschäftigt.

Louis VervloetGeneral Director, ESF-Agency Flanders

Louis Vervloet is the General Director of the Flemish ESF-Agency, the Managing Authority for the ESF in Flanders. He has a vast experience in working in public administration and is acquainted with the ESF for over 30 years. In his current position, he is responsible for the relations with the European Commission and for the setting up, implementation, monitoring and control of ESF programmes. Additionally, he is member of the European ESF Committee representing Belgium and the Flemish Policy Council on Employment and Social Economy.

Dr Daniele VidoniPolicy Officer in the State Aid Strategy Unit, European Commission

Daniele Vidoni has joined the European Commission in 2013. He is currently responsible for the ex-post evaluation of State Aid schemes in the State Aid Strategy Unit of DG COMP, which he joined after five years as Evaluation Officer in the Evaluation and European Semester Unit of DG REGIO. Previously, he was Head of the Evaluation Research Unit at INVALSI, the Italian National Institute of Educational Evaluation. His work deals with evaluation design and with the assessment of the effectiveness of public policies.

Juan ViescaDirector of European Funds , Finnova

Juan Viesca is currently the director of European Funds of Finnova, a Belgian foundation specialized in the search for European funding for innovative projects. He is Professor of the Master of International Studies and European Union of the University of Valencia. Member of the Valencian Committee for European Affairs. Expert evaluator of projects for the European Commission. He has been the general director of projects and European funds of the Regional Ministry of Finances of Valencia. In this sense, he has developed the Operational Programs of the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) of the Valencian region and its Regional Smart Specialization Strategy (RIS3 CV). Juan Viesca has also worked at the European Commission in Brussels for more than 8 years managing technology transfer programs between universities and enterprises.

Martin WeberDirector of the Audit Chamber II, European Court of Auditors

Anne WetzelDirector Europe, Regional Council Hauts-de-France (Managing Authority), Verwaltungsbehörde Conseil Régional Nord-Pas de Calais

Anne Wetzel has been Director Europe at Regional Council Hauts-de-France in France for eight years. In her function she is the Head of the Managing Authority in charge of EFRE, ESF, EAFRD (agricultural funds) as well as 3 programmes of territorial cooperation (Interreg 2 seas, Interreg North-West-Europe, Interreg Europe) and a new European initiative : the Urban Innovative Actions. Previously, she was Head of Department Coordination High Schools and Delegate to the Secretary General. Before joining the Regional Council, Anne Wetzel was Project Manager for European Projects in Lille. Between 1997 and 2003, she was teaching at Lille’s Universities including Science Po Lille.