On 29 October 2020, CEPS Board, chaired by Joaquín Almunia, officially appointed Senior Research Fellows Cinzia Alcidi and Steven Blockmans as co-Directors of Research for a three-year term. Together, they will be leading the organisation’s research priorities and agenda.
Cinzia Alcidi and Steven Blockmans will work closely with other CEPS Senior Research Fellows to promote CEPS’ research excellence. They are also responsible for editorial oversight of publications to assure quality of research methodologies and outputs.
The Board’s decision expands the directorship of CEPS from one to two Directors. Cinzia Alcidi and Steven Blockmans take over the position following the retirement of Daniel Gros, who has been Director since 2000. The joint appointment results from a rigorous process to identify prospective candidates that will add valuable experience and insight to CEPS.
About their appointment, Cinzia Alcidi and Steven Blockmans said:
We are honoured to take over from Daniel Gros as co-Directors and thankful for the trust placed in us by the Board and the staff of CEPS. We hope to bring continued leadership and vision to CEPS.
These are auspicious times to explore new directions for policy research and to strengthen the position of CEPS as a leading think tank that covers the entire waterfront of EU affairs.
Outgoing Director of CEPS, Daniel Gros, has been appointed a member of the Board and a Distinguished Fellow, reflecting his many years of contribution to CEPS work. Daniel Gros will remain active in research projects as well as maintaining a crucial link between CEPS and its Board, championing CEPS values of independence and transparency.
Biographies
Cinzia Alcidi is Head of the Economic Policy Unit and Jobs and Skills at CEPS. Her research focuses on the European economy and governance, on fiscal and monetary policy as well as on social policies and finance. She has long professional experience in providing evidence-based policy analysis to national governments and EU institutions. Prior to joining CEPS in 2008, she worked at the International Labour Office in Geneva and taught International Economics at the University of Perugia (Italy).
Cinzia Alcidi holds a Ph.D. degree in International Economics from the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies, Geneva (Switzerland).
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Steven Blockmans is Head of the EU Foreign Policy Unit and Head of the Institutional Affairs Unit at CEPS. He is also a Professor of EU External Relations Law and Governance at the University of Amsterdam.
Before joining CEPS in 2012, Steven Blockmans was Head of Research at the Asser Institute, an international law centre based in The Hague. From 2010 to 2014, he was a special visiting professor at the Law Faculty of the University of Leuven. Blockmans also served as a long-term expert on legal approximation in the framework of an EU-sponsored project in support for the Ministry of European Integration of Albania from 2007 to 2009.
Steven Blockmans holds a Ph.D. in International Law from Leiden University.
Follow them on Twitter @AlcidiCinzia and @StevenBlockmans
