1. FREE MOVEMENT OF PROFESSIONALS
How does it make the EU richer and smarter?
Challenges and Potentials
SPEAKERS
Ms. Eva Paunova, MEP - host of the event
Ms Paunova graduated in International Relations and Business Administration
from John Cabot University in Rome, Italy. Subsequently, she earned a degree in
Leadership education from Harvard University, USA. She worked in the office of
the British Ambassador to Bulgaria and she was also a trainee at UniCredit
Bulbank, Sofia. Her career within the EU Institutions started when she served as
Political advisor in the office of MEP Iliana Ivanova. After serving as Coordinator of the Citizens for
European Development of Bulgaria (GERB) delegation to the EPP and as a senior political advisor, in
2014 she became an MEP in the EPP.
Mr. Jörg Tagger
Jorg Tagger holds a legal degree of the University of Graz (Austria) and a Master
of European Studies from the University of Leuven (Belgium). He is the Deputy
Head of the unit "Free movement of Workers and the Coordination of Social
Security Systems". In this function he is responsible for the legal coordination and quality control in
this very complex and politically highly sensitive field.
Mr Tagger is also actively involved in the preparation of new Commission initiatives in the field,
notably the Mobility Package announced for December of this year.

2. Ms. Assya Kavrakova
Before joining ECAS, Ms. Assya Kavrakova served as the Director of European
Policies and the Civic Participation Program at the Open Society Institute in
Sofia, Bulgaria. She worked as a Public Policies and Outreach Director at the
Democracy Network Program of the United States Agency for International
Development. She was also the Executive Director of the Transparency Without Borders Association,
which is the Bulgarian branch of Transparency International. Assya Kavrakova is a German Marshall
Memorial Fellow and a Fellow of the International Fellowship Programme.
Mr. Melih Erdem Koctepe
As a Master in Nanotechnology Engineering, Chemistry and MBA, Mr Erdem
combined both his technical skills and managerial skills into the development of
technology consulting business within Benson & Winch, in Brussels. Mr Erdem
started working for Benson & Winch in 2012, first as a recruitment consultant, and
then from 2014 as a business consultant. Previous positions include Associate to McKinsey &
Company, and Research Engineer.
Mr. Giovanni Collot
Italian Journalist with an expertise on foreign affairs, he works in Brussels for
UNITEE- the New European Business Confederation, where is the editor in
chief of The New European magazine since March 2013. He is also co-founder
of iMerica, a multimedia journalism company specialised in explaining complex
foreing policy issues in a simple and appealing way.
Mr. Matthias Busse
Mr. Matthias Busse joined CEPS in January 2012 where he is now working as a
Researcher in the Economic Policy Unit. He previously obtained a Bachelor in
Economics at the University of Hertfordshire and a Master in European Studies at
the University of Hamburg. He received academic awards and graduated top of his
class at both universities. He worked as a researcher at the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung Bremen, the
B.U.N.D. and as a tutor for Micro-economics, Macro-economics as well as introduction to Business
Economics at the University of Applied Science Bremen.