THE STATE OF THE EUROPEAN UNION. Reforming Europe in a time of war

Biographies 103 pean Social Policy and the comparative study of welfare state policies in the EU. Prior to 2014 he worked at the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung in Berlin. His latest main publica- tions are: Unequal Europe. Tackling Regional Disparities in the EU (FES/FEPS Stockholm/Brussels 2021) and A European Social Semester? The European Pillar of Social Rights in practice (ETUI Brussels, 2019). Christos Katsioulis studied History and Political Science at the University of Trier and the Aristotle-Univer- sity in Thessaloniki. He is currently heading the Regional Office for Cooperation and Peace in Europe of the Frie- drich-Ebert-Stiftung. He obtained his MA in International Relations from the Institute for Political Science in Trier, where he taught international relations and foreign pol- icy from 2003 to 2005.After that he joined the Friedrich- Ebert-Stiftung, starting as policy officer in the EU-Office in Brussels and from 2007 to 2012 as expert on foreign policy in the International Policy Analysis Unit in Berlin. In 2012 he founded and headed the FES Office in Athens, later he headed the EU Office in Brussels as well as the London Office of FES. Diego López Garrido is executive vice-president of the Fundación Alternativa and President of the Fun- dación Alternativa’s Council of European Affairs. He is an economist, has a Chair in Constitutional Law and is Legal consultant for the Spanish Cortes. Former member of the Spanish Parliament and of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly. He was Secretary of State for the European Union (2008-2011) and coordinated the 2010 Spanish Presidency of the EU. He also served as the Socialist Group’s spokesman in the Congress of Deputies and has been elected as MP for six terms. He was member of the Convention for drafting the European Constitution, representing the Spanish Parliament (2002-2003). He is author of many books on human rights, economics, poli- tics and European Community Law. His last publications are: La Edad de Hielo. Europa y Estados Unidos ante la Gran Crisis: el rescate del Estado de bienestar (RBA, 2014), The Ice Age. Bailing Out the Welfare State in the Era of Austerity (London Publishing Partnership, 2015), Paraísos fiscales. Veinte propuestas para acabar con la gran evasión (La Catarata, 2016). Recently he published Lecciones de Derecho Constitucional de España y de la Unión Europea (Tirant Lo Blanch, 2018). María Pallares is programme coordinator at the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung (FES), Madrid. Previously, she has worked as research fellow for Notre Europe (Paris), the Rafael Campalans Foundation (Barcelona) and as free- lance consultant. She holds a Master in European Affairs from Sciences Po., Paris. Luise Rürup has worked with the Friedrich-Ebert- Stiftung (FES) since the early nineties. In September 2020, she was posted to Madrid as the representative of the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung in Spain. Prior to her cur- rent post in Madrid, Luise Rürup served five years as the executive director of the FES liaison office to the United Nations/International Monetary Fund/World Bank in New York (USA). She held various assignments with FES, including head of department at HQ in Berlin (Ger- many), country representative and executive director, in Santiago de Chile, New Delhi (India), Erfurt/Thüringen (Germany) and Istanbul (Turkey). After studying political sciences, regional studies, philosophy and geography at the Free University of Berlin, Universitá di Urbino (Ita- ly) and University of Hamburg, Luise Rürup graduated in political sciences with a diploma from the University of Hamburg. She complemented her education with a one-year vocational graduate programme at the Centre for Advanced Training in Rural Development / Interna- tionale Cooperation in Sustainable Development (SLE / Humboldt University) in Berlin. Prior to her engagement with FES, Luise Rürup was involved in multidisciplinary research and consultancy in rural areas of Costa Rica and Tanzania. Luise Rürup is longstanding member of the German multi service union Ver.di and the German socialdemocratic party SPD.