Introduction of Speakers and their Presentations
Wednesday 15 June 2022
Petr Mlsna
Chairman, Czech NCA
Petr Mlsna is the Chairman of the Office for the Protection of Competition since 2 December 2020. Starting from 2003, he held a number of positions at the Office of the Government of the Czech Republic and at the Government Legislative Council. In late 2012 and early 2013, he held the position of Minister without portfolio and the Chairman of the Government Legislation Council. Subsequently, he was the acting Deputy Minister for Justice and for Education, Youth and Sports. Since 2015, until his appointment as the Chairman of the Office, he was the acting Deputy Minister responsible for the Section of Legislative, State Administration and Regional Administration of the Ministry of Interior.
Petr Solský
Vice-Chair, Czech NCA
Petr Solský graduated from the Faculty of Law of the Masaryk University in Brno in 1998. At the same Faculty he received “JUDr.” degree in the field of criminal law. He worked in public administration on a number of managing positions, for example at the Ministry of the Interior or the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. From 2003 to 2010 he gained extensive experience at the Permanent Representation of the Czech Republic to the EU in Brussels where he was responsible for management of the division of justice and interior including the coordination of preparations of the Czech Presidency of the Council of the EU. Back in the Czech Republic he worked in private sector in a law firm. Consequently, he focused in particular on the area of information and communication technology, among others as a Deputy Minister of the Interior for this area in the years 2013 and 2014. Petr Solský has been focusing on a number of issues of criminal and administrative law including the regulatory framework for public procurement and prohibited state aid. He is a long-term member of the Regulatory Impact Assessment Commission of the Government Legislative Council (RIA Commission).
On 5 April 2016, Petr Solský was appointed to the position of the Vice-chairman of the Office for the Protection of Competition and entrusted with the management of the Legislative and Public Regulation Division.
Maria Velentza
Director, Directorate I: General Affairs European Commission, DG Competition
After graduating from the German School of Athens, Maria continued her studies in Law at the University of Athens and in Paris where she specialised in European Community Law.
She qualified as a lawyer at the Athens bar, then she joined the EU Commission in the early 90s; Maria was responsible for a number of years for Capital markets, then for Financial Stability issues, including bank recovery and resolution, within the Directorate General of Internal Market and Financial Services of the EU Commission.
In November 2016, she was appointed Director in the Directorate General of Competition for Financial Institutions where she covered antitrust, state aid and merger cases for the entire spectrum of financial services and institutions. She remained as a Director in this directorate until April 2021, whereas, in parallel, she took over the General Affairs Directorate responsible for strategic coordination and support for DG Competition. This Directorate covers coordination of a number of key strategic outputs, including the Annual Competition Report, strategic planning and programming, communication and advocacy, digital business solutions for enforcement purposes, financial resource management and internal control and compliance.
Libuše Bílá
State Aid Department of the Czech NCA
Libuše Bílá graduated from the Faculty of Law of the Masaryk University in Brno. She joined the Office for the Protection for Competition in 1995 as an officer at the Unit for International Cooperation. Since 2003 she has been working at the State Aid Unit, firstly as an officer and later, from 2012 to 2014, as a deputy director of the Unit. Since March 2014 she has been the Head of State Aid Unit.
Gabriela Kinclová
State Aid Department of the Czech NCA
Gabriela Kinclová graduated from the Faculty of Economics and Administration of the Masaryk University in Brno. She has been working for the Office for the Protection of Competition at the State Aid Unit since 2000. She focuses on the State Aid provided in the field of culture, transport and services of general economic interest.
Koen Van de Casteele
Head of Unit, European Commission, DG Competition
Koen Van de Casteele is currently in charge of State Aid Policy and Case Support in DG Competition. He started his career in the European Commission in DG Agriculture in the area of agricultural competition law in 1998.
Prior to his work at the Commission, he was a senior associate in the Business and Finance Department of a major law firm in Brussels and London. Koen Van de Casteele has read law at Leuven University (1986-1991), the College of Europe (1991-1992) and the University of Michigan Law School (1995-1996).
Richard Nikischer
Director of the Regional and Housing Policy Strategies and Analysis Department, Ministry of Regional Development
Richard Nikischer graduated from the regional geography at Charles University and worked as a researcher at the Institute of Sociology of the Czech Academy of Sciences. He is the author of two dozen scientific publications, especially on the topic of social organization of space. At the Ministry of Regional Development, he heads the Rural Development Unit and he is in charge of managing the Department of Regional and Housing Policy Strategies and Analyses. He emphasizes the need for a spatially sensitive and sustainable approach to regional development, which the Ministry of Regional Development takes into account when creating the Regional Development Strategy of the Czech Republic 21+, the Rural Development Concept or the Smart Cities Concept. Together with his colleagues and in cooperation with territorial stakeholders, he defines development measures and instruments reflecting specific needs and development potential of individual regions.
Luděk Sosna
Director of Strategy Department, Ministry of Transport
Luděk Sosna graduated from the Faculty of Transport of the Czech Technical University in Prague. In 2010 he joined Ministry of Transport of The Czech republic, where he is in charge of Strategy Department.
Iva Příkopová
State Aid Department of the Czech NCA
Iva Příkopová graduated from the Faculty of Law of the Masaryk University in Brno. Since 2005, she has been working at the State Aid Unit of the Office for the Protection of Competition, from 2011 as a deputy head of the Unit. Considering the field of state aid, she has been dealing with issues of environment protection, public property managing and/or infrastructure projects. She also participated in establishing the Central register of de minimis aid.
Martina Břešťovská
Head of Unit, Ministry of Agriculture
Martina Břešťovská graduated from the master programme in Economics and Management at the Faculty of Business and Economics of the Czech University of Life Sciences in Prague. After completing her studies in 2007, she joined the Ministry of Agriculture in the State Aid Unit, where she first worked as an officer and since 2008 on a Head of Unit post. As part of her activities, she cooperates with aid providers within the process of preparation of state aid schemes in agriculture and fisheries and ensures respective notification to the European Commission. She is a member of the state aid working groups and is actively involved in EU negotiations while preparing the new state aid rules.
Oldřich Mužík
Head of Unit, State Environmental Fund of the Czech Republic
He has 8 years of experience with grant programs in the State Environmental Fund. Currently, he is the Head of Department for the Modernization and Innovation Fund, where he is in charge of setting up support programmes mainly for the modernization of the Czech energy sector and increasing energy efficiency in industry, buildings and transport. Previously, he worked as a researcher at the Research Institute of Agricultural Engineering, where he was mainly involved in projects focused on the energy use of biomass.
presentation
Thursday 16 June 2022
Markéta Kabourková
Vice-Chairman of the National Sports Agency
Economist and manager, specializing primarily in research organizations, universities, and sports.
Since 2004 she has been involved in grants and research funding, and later universities and sports organizations as well. In 2006 she was involved in the transoformation of a contributory organization into a public research institution and following restructuration and organization of a new management system.
She participated in the preparation of an expert opinion for the European Commission (Interpretation of selected H2020 cost items in the context of Czech legislation) in the area of costs for Horizon2020. She has co-published in the Auditor magazine (non-profit sector funding and subsidy issues). In February 2021 she has been appointed as a Vice Chair of the National Sports Agency.
Eduardo Cabrera Maqueda
Deputy Head of Unit European Commission, DG Competition
Eduardo Cabrera Maqueda is at present Deputy Head of Unit in the Directorate-General for Competition (DG Competition) of the European Commission, in the unit dealing with State aid to the post, health, road transport and other sectors. He is a Spanish national and holds a double degree in Law and Business Administration as well as a Master’s Degree in European Studies (European Law) from the College of Europe in Bruges, Belgium. After a number of years in private practice in Spanish and US law firms, Eduardo joined DG Competition in 2009. Within DG Competition, Eduardo has worked in several units dealing with State aid matters, including policy and coordination, restructuring of undertakings in difficulty, etc.
Caroline Buts
University of Brussels
Caroline Buts is professor of competition policy and European economic integration at the faculty of Social Sciences and Solvay Business School and the Brussels School of Governance at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel. Within the Department of Applied Economics, she works on different aspects of competition policy with a focus on government support policies. She is managing editor of the ‘European State Aid Law Quarterly’ and editorial board member of the ‘European Competition and Regulatory Law Review’. In addition, she is advisor in Belgian’s Price Observatory and frequently advises public and private partners on competition matters. Caroline is a founding member of the Brussels Center for Competition Policy and supervises multiple PhD students and projects, in both fundamental and applied research.
Zoltán Bartucz
The State Aid Monitoring Office, Prime Minister's Office of Hungary
Hungarian State Aid Monitoring Office in the Prime Minister’s Office. The Office is in charge of compliance with State aid rules at a national level, and it represents Hungary vis-à-vis the European Commission in State aid cases, such as notifications and other procedures. Zoltán has been working for the Office for nearly eight years; his main areas of specialty include the financial sector, environmental and energy aid, broadband development and the General Block Exemption Regulation.
Michael Kincl
Supreme Court of the Czech Republic
Michael Kincl graduated from the Faculty of Law of the Masaryk University in Brno. Currently he works as an judge assistant at Supreme Court of the Czech Republic. He has been intensively focused on the area of State aid since 2000. In the past, he worked as a deputy director of State Aid Unit of the Office for the Protection of Competition. Mr. Kincl is an author of numerous articles and several monographs focused on the State aid. He regularly lectures and cooperates on methodological issues with various public authorities and other bodies.
