Speakers - CONFERENCE ON THE FUTURE OF EUROPE

ROBERTA METSOLA

Vice-President of the European Parliament

ROBERTA METSOLA

Roberta Metsola was first elected to the European Parliament in 2013, becoming one of Malta’s first female Members of the European Parliament. She was re-elected in 2014 and then again in 2019.

In 2020 she was elected as the First Vice President of the European Parliament, becoming the first Maltese national to hold the post. Professionally she is a lawyer who has specialised in European law and politics.

Prior to her election as a MEP, Vice-President Metsola served within the Permanent Representation of Malta to the European Union and later as the legal advisor to the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy. In her student years, she was active in various organisations, acting as the Secretary-General for the European Democrat Student organisation between 2002-2003.

Within the European Parliament, VP Metsola was the EPP Group’s Coordinator in the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs, between January 2017 and 2020. Vice-President Metsola was the Parliament’s rapporteur on the European Border and Coastguard Regulation in 2019.

VP Metsola is the Head of the Partit Nazzjonalista delegation within the EPP Group. She is currently a Member of the Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs Committee and of the Delegation for Relations with the United States. VP Metsola is a Substitute Member on the Committee for Environment, Public Health and Food safety, the Special Committee on Artificial Intelligence in the Digital Age and the Delegation for Relations with Japan.

Born in 1979, Roberta Metsola is married to Ukko Metsola and is the mother of four boys. She graduated from the University of Malta and the College of Europe in Bruges.

Dubravka ŠUICA

Vice-President of the European Commission for Democracy and Demography

Dubravka ŠUICA

Since December 2019, Dubravka Šuica is Vice-President of the European Commission in charge of Democracy and Demography. Mrs Šuica a Croatian politician from the city of Dubrovnik, where she served for two terms as its first female mayor and was awarded the 2006 World Mayor Award. Dubravka Šuica entered politics in the 1990s as a Member of the Croatian Democratic Union and served as a Member of the Croatian Parliament and Vice-Chair of the EU Integration Committee. Between 2004 and 2009 she was a Board Member of the Union of the Association of Towns and Municipalities of the Republic of Croatia. During ten years she was the Vice-President of Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe. From 2013 to 2019 Dubravka Šuica served as a Member of the European Parliament and Vice-Chair of Foreign Affairs Committee. In June 2019, Šuica was elected as first Vice-Chair of EPP Group in the European Parliament. Since 2012, she is the Vice-President of EPP Women.

VĚRA JOUROVA

Vice-President of the European Commission for Values and Transparency

Věra Jourová

Věra Jourová was born in 1964 in Třebíč, Czech Republic. She graduated from Charles University from both the Department of the Theory of Culture and the Department of Law and Legal Science. In 1991, she worked as Deputy Director of the Civic Culture Centre in Třebíč, later working as the Secretary of the City Council. From 2000, she was employed at DHV ČR working on human resources, regional development, economic policy and EU funds projects. Between 2001 and 2003, she was head of the Regional Development Section in the Regional Office of the Vysočina Region, and was subsequently made European Integration Deputy at the Ministry for Regional Development. From 2006, she worked for a consultancy on Euro grants. In 2013, she was made a Deputy in the Czech Parliament and in 2014 acted as the Minister for Regional Development. She sat in the Chamber of Deputies for her party, ANO, between 2013 and 2014.

From 2014 to 2019, she was European Commissioner for Justice, Consumers and Gender Equality. In this role, she was responsible for overseeing issues related to data protection and privacy in the EU, gender equality and enforcement of pay rules in the financial and commercial sectors. Since 2019, Věra Jourová has been Vice-President of the European Commission for Values and Transparency.

DIDIER REYNDERS

European Commissioner for Justice

DIDIER REYNDERS

Didier Reynders is European Commissioner for justice in charge of rule of law and consumer protection, a position he has held since December 2019. Previously, he held several high-level political positions in Belgium including minister of defense, minister of foreign affairs, foreign trade and European affairs, minister of finance and deputy prime minister. From 2004 to 2011, he served as chairman of the Mouvement Réformateur (liberal party alliance). He was elected member of the Parliament in 1992. Prior to this, he has presided the Belgian railways and the Belgian Airways Agency. Reynders has been a guest lecturer at the universities of Liège and Louvain until he became European Commissioner. He holds a degree in law from the University of Liège.

GAŠPER DOVŽAN

Slovenian State Secretary for European Affairs

GAŠPER DOVŽAN

Gašper Dovžan, born on 16 September 1976, graduated in Law from the University of Ljubljana in 2000. He pursued his studies in Berlin, where he obtained a Master of Science degree in European Studies in 2002. He passed the National Bar Examination in 2011.

He joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 2000. Between 2002 and 2004, he worked as a Legal Adviser to the Delegation of the Government of the Republic of Slovenia at the Intergovernmental Conference on the Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe. Between 2004 and 2008, Mr Dovžan served as adviser for international relations in the Office of the Prime Minister and was involved in the Slovenian Presidency of the Council of the EU in the first half of 2008.

In 2012, he advised and assisted the Prime Minister on European and foreign policy issues. He previously worked in the Economic Diplomacy Directorate of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In spring 2013, he was appointed acting director of the Government Office for Legislation. Between autumn 2014 and July 2017, he was Deputy Head of the Slovenian Embassy in Berlin. Between August 2017 and March 2020, he worked in the Department for General and Institutional Affairs of the Directorate for EU Affairs the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He covered institutional matters and coordinated the work related to the European Council. In autumn 2019, he became Head of Department.

Mr Dovžan previously worked for Petrol d. d., the leading energy company in Slovenia, and completed his judicial traineeship at Ljubljana Higher Court. He lectured on constitutional law at the European Faculty of Law in Nova Gorica and at the Graduate School of Government and European Studies in Brdo pri Kranju. He also published numerous articles and essays on constitutional, EU and human rights law.

ÁDÁM TÓTH

President of the Council of the Notariats of the European Union

Adam Toth

2020 – Vice-President of the CNUE
2016 – Member of the CNUE Board of Directors
2015 – Knight of Cross from the Order of Merit of the Hungarian Republic
Since 2007 – President of the Hungarian Chamber of Notaries
2004-2007 – Vice-President of the Hungarian Chamber of Notaries
Since 2004 – Member of the General Council of the International Union of Notaries (UINL) representing Hungary at the CNUE and in the cooperation of Central European notaries (Hexagonale)
Since 2001 – Member of the Presiding Board of a Disciplinary Court of the Territorial Chamber of Civil Law Notaries in Budapest
Since 1998 – Notary – IX/3. Budapest Notary’s Office
1996-2004 – Member of the Council of the Institute of Comparative Law (CAEM) of the International Union of Notaries (UINL)
Since 1997 – Director and editor of Közjegyzők Közlönye (Bulletin of Notaries)
1993-1998 – Notary substitute
1990-1993 – Court Secretaries – Hungarian Constitutional Court

Other activities:
ELTE -ÁJK associate professor
Speaker at several international and national conferences
Author of national and international legal books and journals
Vice-President of the Hungarian Law Association
Member of the National Judicial Council

SALLA SAASTAMOINEN

Director “Civil and Commercial Justice”
European Commission

Salla Saastamoinen

As Director for Civil and Commercial Justice, Salla Saastamoinen is in charge of the development and consolidation of the European area of civil justice, in particular of civil procedural law, private international law, contract law and company law. Salla Saastamoinen has worked in the Commission for 20 years, starting in the Directorate-General for Environment and then working in several areas in the Directorate-General for Justice. Before joining the Commission, Salla Saastamoinen was an associate partner in a law office in Helsinki, Finland. She has a licentiate degree in law from the University of Helsinki, Finland, and post-graduate studies in law from the universities of Saarbrücken, Germany, and Zürich, Switzerland.

ALAIN PILETTE

Deputy Director “Justice”, General Secretariat of the Council

ALAIN PILETTE

– Lawyer at the Brussels Bar (1990-1995),

– Legal advisor, SITA world’s leading specialist in air transport communications and information technology (1995-1997),

– Administrator, Committee on Legal Affairs and the Internal Market, European Parliament (1997-2000),

– Legal advisor, Legal Service, Council of the European Union (2000-2002),

– Member of the Secretariat of the European Convention (2002-2003),

– Legal Advisor to the Administration, Council of the European Union (2003-2005),

– Head of the Legal Advisors to the Administration Unit, Council of the European Union (2005-2016),

– Head of the judicial cooperation in civil matters and e-Justice Unit, Council of the European Union (2016-2017),

– Deputy Director, Justice, Council of the European Union (2018-).

LIONEL GALLIEZ

Vice-President of the International Union of the Notariat (UINL)

LIONEL GALLIEZ

Associate Notary in PARIS (France)

Vice-President (Europe) of the International Union of Notaries

Advisor to the President of the Conseil supérieur du notariat (France) for international affairs

President of the 28th International Congress of Notaries (Paris, 2016)

GIAMPAOLO MARCOZ

Vice-President of the Council of the Notariats of the European Union

GIAMPAOLO MARCOZ

Giampaolo MARCOZ was born in Aosta in 1975, where he graduated from high school in 1994. In 1998 he graduated in Law from the University of Turin with top marks, discussing a family law thesis on legal communion. In 2002 he qualified as a lawyer at the Court of Appeal of Turin and in 2007 he won the Notary Competition which assigned him to the Aosta office, where he currently continues to practice.

In 2016 he was elected to the College of Piedmont and Aosta Valley as a Councillor at the National Council of Notaries, where until 2018 he was in charge of the communication sector and the innovation commission.

In the three-year period 2016 – 2019 he held the position of Director on the Board of Directors of Notartel S.p.A., an IT company serving the National Council of Notaries.

In June 2019, he was elected Vice-President of the National Council of Notaries, a position he will hold until February 2021.

He was appointed President of the CNUE for the year 2022.

JENS BORMANN

President of the Bundesnotarkammer

JENS BORMANN

Dr. Jens Bormann, LL.M. (Harvard)
Notary and President of the German Federal Chamber of Civil Law Notaries (Bundesnotarkammer)

Dr. Jens Bormann is notary in Ratingen (Germany) and since 2015 also President of Bundesnotarkammer in Berlin.
After his law studies in Constance and Geneva and his legal clerkship in Freiburg and Paris, Dr. Jens Bormann was research fellow at the Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg. In 2002 he pursued his postgraduate studies at Harvard Law School with a Master of law degree (LL.M.) and was awarded a doctorate (Dr. iur.) in Freiburg. From 2006 to 2011, Dr. Jens Bormann was secretary general of Bundesnotarkammer. In 2017 he was appointed Honorary Professor at Leibniz University Hannover.
During his term of office as President of Bundesnotarkammer, he accompanied numerous legislative reforms and digitalization projects at the crossroads between the notarial profession, the judiciary and administrative authorities.

KATRIN ROGGEMAN

President of the Royal Federation of Belgian Notaries

KATRIN ROGGEMAN

Katrin Roggeman is president of the Royal Federation of Belgian Notaries.

Katrin Roggeman studied notarial law at the KU Leuven and started her career in the office of notary Thierry van Halteren in Brussels. In 2007, she became a full notary in the association “Van Halteren, associated notaries”.

She has already held several mandates within various notarial institutions. In 2008 she started as treasurer of the board of the Dutch-speaking Council (now VlaNot). She was, among others, a member of the Chamber of Ethics of Notaries of the Brussels-Capital Region and of COBRA. She was also a member of the External Relations Commission of VlaNot and a member of the Dutch Language Appointment Commission for the notarial profession. From 2018 to 2021, Notary Roggeman was Vice President of the Board of Directors of Fednot and a member of the VlaNot Bureau.

CLINTON BELLIZZI

President of the Maltese Chamber of Notaries

CLINTON BELLIZZI

Notary Clinton Bellizzi holds a Bachelor degree in Sociology and a Doctorate in Laws from the University of Malta. He was awarded the Warrant of Notary Public on the 17th June, 2003 and is also a Commissioner for Oaths. Notary Clinton Bellizzi’s practice is housed at BELLIZZI LEGAL OFFICES, in Valletta.
Notary Clinton Bellizzi also lectured at the University of Malta on Notarial law, title registrations, guarantees and conveyancing as a visiting lecturer and dissertation, term papers and thesis supervisor.
He has participated in a number of international conferences and symposia ranging from European succession regimes to circulation of authentic instruments and represented the Maltese Notariat during meetings of the Council of the Notariats of the European Union (CNUE) as President of the Maltese Notarial Council (Kunsill Nutarili ta’ Malta).
With a penchant for everything revolving around information technology, data security and data governance, Notary Clinton Bellizzi participated in a number of national initiatives aimed at transposing Notarial services to the digital world, from deed registration to title searches and office management. Recent collaborations with key academic, professional and administrative entities, revolve around best practice recommendations in information security for Notaries and drafting a common policy for digital heritage regulation together with a comprehensive nation-wide data governance strategy, including DLT solutions.

JĀNIS SKRASTIÑŠ

President of the Council of Notaries of Latvia

JĀNIS SKRASTIÑŠ

Mr. Jānis Skrastiñš has been a notary since 2003. He has been a member of the Board of the Latvian Chamber of Notaries since 2011 and the President of the Chamber since 2017.

RADIM NEUBAUER

President of the Chamber of Notaries of the Czech Republic

RADIM NEUBAUER

Mgr. Radim Neubauer (*28. 2. 1977)

Since 2015, President of the Notarial Chamber of the Czech Republic
2014/2015, President of the Notarial Chamber in Prague
Since September 2011, notary in Prague
Graduate of the Faculty of Law of Charles University in Prague, Aledo High School in Illinois (USA) and Gymnasium Liebigschule in Frankfurt am Main (Germany).
Member of the European Law Institute (ELI) (since 2014) and of the Commission for European Affairs of the UINL (2008 – 2014).

TAMÁS PARTI

President of the CNUE Futurology Forum

TAMÁS PARTI

Dr Tamás PARTI, civil law notary in Budapest, President of the Budapest Chamber of Civil Law Notaries, member of the General Council of the UINL (International Union of Notaries), President of the CNUE’s Futurology Forum and Chair of the Committee for Technological Adaptation of the Hungarian Chamber of Civil Law Notaries. Furthermore, he is a lecturer in the Department of Civil Procedure at the Faculty of Law and Political Sciences of Eötvös Loránd University in Budapest (ELTE) and examiner in the legal profession examinations [Bar examinations] in Hungary. His PhD field of research is the study of the effects of contemporary social and technological processes on fundamental rights – an aspect of this research is the study of the effects of technological progress on the notarial profession.

EFTYCHIA KARASTATHI

Board Member of the Hellenic Notarial Council

EFTYCHIA KARASTATHI

JOSÉ CARMELO LLOPIS BENLLOCH

Notary in Ayora
(Spain)

JOSÉ CARMELO LLOPIS BENLLOCH

José Carmelo Llopis Benlloch

Finalised the Law Degree (1996-2001) at the Universidad de Valencia.
Passed the notarial capacity on 2008.
Notary holder of the notarial office in Ayora (Valencia-Spain) since 2011.
Mediator of the Solutio Litis Foundation since 2013.
Member of the Notarial Board of the Valencia Local Chamber since 2020.
Spanish Delegate at the CNUE on the New Technologies Working Group (since 2015), on the EUFides and Bartolus Working Group (since 2015), on the New Technologies Futurology Forum (since 2016) and on the Data Protection Task Force (since 2018).
Spanish Delegate at the UINL on the New Technologies Working Group (since 2020).
Speaker at the Annual Conference on European Company Law and Corporate Governance 2017, organised by the Academy of European Law (ERA) on “Digital tools and processes in EU company law from the point of view of the notary”, Trier, 2017.
Spanish Speaker on the “Electronic notarial acts and paperless processes” theme at the XXVIII International Congress (Paris, 2016).
Member of the Scientific Committee and speaker on the theme “Consumer protection in the digital environment” of the 4th Congress of the Notaries of Europe (Santiago de Compostela, 2017).
Delegate at the Advisory Committee of the Principles for a Data Economy Project of the European Law Institute (ELI) with the American Law Institute (ALI) from 2018 to 2021.
Delegate at the Advisory Committee of the Digital Inheritance Project of the European Law Institute (ELI)  since 2019.
Coordinator and speaker on the “Digital identity” and “Dynamic notarial documents” at the I NotarTIC Congress (Seville, 2016).
Author of articles concerning Blockchain, Digital Will or Digital Inheritance, among others, at several online and written publications (Profesiones, Escritura Pública, BIN, Idealista, El Economista)
Co-author of the following ebooks in 2016: “Electronic Evidences” (ISBN 978-84-617-4743-6) and “Digital Will” (ISBN 978-84-617-4521-0).
Co-author of the book “Legal Tech: La transformación digital de la abogacía”, La Ley (2019) (ISBN 978-84-9020-851-9)

RAUL RADOI

Secretary General of the Council of the Notariats of the European Union

RAUL RADOI

Raul-Mihai RĂDOI, born in 1977 in Timisoara, Romania, has been Secretray General of the Council of the Notariats of the European Union (CNUE) since 1 January 2016. Between 2007 and 2015, he was Adviser on EU affairs and representative in Brussels of the National Union of Civil Law Notaries of Romania, where between 2012-2016 he coordinated the European Notarial Network. From 2003 until 2007, he worked as a diplomat and counsellor on EU affairs at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, where he contributed to the preparation of his country’s accession to the European Union. He holds two University degrees in Law and in Polictical Science (European Studies) from the University of Cluj and obtained a Master’s Degree in Political Science (German Studies) in 2003. He also holds a postgraduate diploma from the Diplomatic Academy of Vienna 38^th Promotion “Bertha von Suttner”. He is a member of the ERA Board of Trustees and of the European Commission’s working group on Judicial training.

FRÉDÉRIC SIMON

News Editor
Euractiv

FRÉDÉRIC SIMON

Frédéric Simon is the publisher and editor of EurActiv, the leading specialised EU media. He joined EurActiv in 2003 as a reporter to cover some of the EU’s most heated policy debates such as the REACH regulation on chemicals, energy liberalisation, and the emissions trading scheme. In his current position, he oversees the editorial and IT departments of EurActiv in Brussels, Paris and Berlin while continuing to write about EU affairs with a particular focus on economic and environmental issues.

Frédéric is also Brussels correspondent for France 24, the 24/7 international TV channel. He graduated in journalism from Brussels University (ULB) in 1998 and holds a Master’s degree in EU politics from the Institut d’Etudes Européennes (IEE) in Brussels.

Denis KRAJCAR

Member of the Board and the Committee for International Cooperation of the Croatian Chamber of Notaries.

DENIS KRAJCAR

Work experience:

15.03.1982. appointed as a court trainee on Municipal court of Pula

25.06.1983. passed the bar exam

appointed as a judge of the Municipal court of Pula

1989 appointed as a Deputy President of the Civil Division of the Municipal Court in Pula

27.07.1994. passed the notarial exam,

from 11.01.1995 until today, civil law notary in Pula,

Work in chamber bodies and international associations:

1995.-1998. Member of the Committee for international cooperation of the Croatian Notaries Chamber,

1998.-2001. President of the Committee for international cooperation of the Croatian Notaries Chamber,

1998.-2004. President of the notarial assembley for the region of Istria

2000.-2006. Member of CAE commission of the Union Internationale du Notariat- UINL

2001.-2004. President of the Committee for international cooperation of the Croatian Notaries Chamber,

2004.-2007. President of the Committee for international cooperation of the Croatian Notaries Chamber,

2005.-2013. representative of the Croatian Notaries Chamber in the CNUE (before Croatian notariat entered the full membership of CNUE)

2007.-2010. President of the Committee for international cooperation of the Croatian Notaries Chamber,

2010.-2013. President of the Committee for international cooperation of the Croatian Notaries Chamber,

Director in the CNUE Board in 2015. mandate (under the presidency of Mr Jean Tarrade)

2016.-2019. member of the editorial board of the Croatian Notaries Chamber journal “Javni bilježnik” and author of numerous articles on notarial profession.

until today, member of the Steering committee and Committee for international cooperation of Croatian Notaries Chamber

Speakers - CONFERENCE ON THE FUTURE OF EUROPE

ROBERTA METSOLA

ROBERTA METSOLA

Dubravka ŠUICA

Dubravka ŠUICA

VĚRA JOUROVA

Věra Jourová

DIDIER REYNDERS

DIDIER REYNDERS

GAŠPER DOVŽAN

GAŠPER DOVŽAN

ÁDÁM TÓTH

Adam Toth

SALLA SAASTAMOINEN

Salla Saastamoinen

ALAIN PILETTE

ALAIN PILETTE

LIONEL GALLIEZ

LIONEL GALLIEZ

GIAMPAOLO MARCOZ

GIAMPAOLO MARCOZ

JENS BORMANN

JENS BORMANN

KATRIN ROGGEMAN

KATRIN ROGGEMAN

CLINTON BELLIZZI

CLINTON BELLIZZI

JĀNIS SKRASTIÑŠ

JĀNIS SKRASTIÑŠ

RADIM NEUBAUER

RADIM NEUBAUER

TAMÁS PARTI

TAMÁS PARTI

EFTYCHIA KARASTATHI

EFTYCHIA KARASTATHI

JOSÉ CARMELO LLOPIS BENLLOCH

JOSÉ CARMELO LLOPIS BENLLOCH

RAUL RADOI

RAUL RADOI

FRÉDÉRIC SIMON

FRÉDÉRIC SIMON

Denis KRAJCAR

DENIS KRAJCAR

PREFERENCES