Foundation Forum: Speakers E-L

Gosta Esping-Andersen

Gosta Esping-Andersen is professor and dean at Pompeu Fabra University, Barcelona. He was formerly a professor at Harvard University and the European University in Florence. He has also worked extensively for several international organisations, including the OECD and the World Bank. His most recent work has involved preparing reports on social policy reform for the Portuguese and Belgian Presidencies of the European Union. Gosta Esping-Andersen is also the author of many academic books.

Frank Fahey

Frank Fahey, Irish Minister of State for Labour Affairs, was born in Dublin in June 1951. He received a BA and Higher Diploma in Education from University College Galway and pursued a teaching career. He was first elected to the Irish Parliament in 1982. His ministerial posts include Minister for State at the Department of Education 1987-92 (with special responsibility for youth and sport) and also at the Department of Transport and Tourism (with responsibility for sports tourism), Minister of State 1997-2000 at the Department of Health, (with special responsibility for children), and Minister for Marine and Natural Resources 2000-02. He was appointed Minister of State at the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment on 18 June 2002, with special responsibility for labour, trade and consumer affairs.

Pedro d'Almeida Freire

Pedro d'Almeida Freire is Director of the Confederação do Comércio e Serviços de Portugal (CCP). He is also currently president of the Judicial Liquidators and Managers Association, Professor of Lusófona University and a consultant to several bodies, including the Institute for International Research and IAPMEI (national institute that supports small and medium sized emnterprises). At international level, he represents CCP in the Social and Economic Committee of the EU. A graduate in political and social sciences, Mr Almeida Freire also holds an MBA in management and has studied marketing management, human resources and social psychology (London University, MCE Brussels).

Emilio Gabaglio

Emilio Gabaglio was born in Como in 1937 and is a graduate in economics of the Catholic University of Milan. A post-primary school teacher by profession, he joined the union in 1964. From this period until 1972 he worked in the ACLI (Italian Workers' Christian Associations), becoming elected their national president in 1969. He became a CISL full?time officer in 1974, and in 1977 was elected member of the CISL General Council. A member of the ICFTU executive committee since 1977, he was CISL delegate to the trade union advisory committee to the OECD for many years and a member of the Italian workers' delegation at the ILO conference. He was elected to the CISL national secretariat in 1983. Mr Gabaglio has had a long involvement in European affairs, being a member of the ETUC executive committee since 1979 and also a member of the European Movement. He was elected general secretary of ETUC in 1991, and reelected in 1995 and in 1999.

Des Geraghty

Des Geraghty is general president of SIPTU, Ireland's largest general union, and a member of the national executive committee of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions. He is also a member of the Board of Fás (the national training and manpower agency of the Irish government), a member of the National Economic Social Committee and of the National Competitiveness Council. Mr Geraghty was formerly a member of the European Parliament, where he served on the committees for economic and monetary affairs and regional policy.

Marie-Hélène Gillig

Born in Aire (Adour) in 1946, Marie-Hélène Gillig is a Member of the European Parliament (Group of the Party of European Socialists) where she is chair of the employment and social affairs committee. She holds a Master's degree in public law. From 1972 to 1983 she was in charge of various vocational training departments and from 1983 to 1992 worked as regional director of Retravailler-Alsace. Since 1983 she has been municipal councillor, then deputy mayor of Strasbourg and has been vice-chair of the Strasbourg Urban Community since 1989. She is also chair of the board of governors of Strasbourg university hospitals and vice-president of the National Union of Community Social Action Centres. In 1998 she became a member of the National Council of French Cities. Ms Gillig is a Knight of the National Order of Merit.

Anita Gradin

Anita Gradin was born in Västerboten, Sweden, in 1933. She graduated in social work and public administration in Stockholm in 1950 and pursued a career first in journalism and later in politics, being elected a Member of parliament in 1968. She was appointed Minister with responsibility for immigrant and equality affairs at the Ministry of Labour (1982-86) and Minister with responsibility for foreign trade at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (1986-91). From 1992 to 1994 she was Ambassador of Sweden to Austria and Slovenia and to the IAEA and UN in Vienna, and from 1995 to 1999 she was European Commissioner with responsibility for immigration, home affairs and justice. Ms Gradin is currently Ambassador and Chair at the Swedish Council for Working Life and Social Research and is a member of the board at the Stockholm School of Economic

Will Hutton

Will Hutton has been chief executive of the Work Foundation (formerly known as the Industrial Society) since 2000. He has endeavoured to move the foundation from its primary role during the last thirty years of the twentieth century as a training organisation, towards becoming an organisation more closely adhering to its founding ideals of the 1920s, as a charity whose mission is to improve working life. Mr Hutton began his career as a stockbroker and investment analyst, moving on to work in TV and radio. During the four years prior to joining the Work Foundation he worked as editor-in-chief of The Observer and director of the Guardian national newspapers. He continues to write a weekly column for The Observer.

Bernhard Jansen

Born in Oldenburg, Germany, in 1949, Bernhard Jansen studied law at the universities of Hamburg, Geneva and Freiburg im Breisgau. He holds a PhD in law and worked for many years as a legal adviser for the European Commission's legal service, mainly on agricultural, competition and merger legislation. From 1991 to 1996 he was attached to the Commission delegation in Geneva in Switzerland, during which time he assisted in the final Uruguay round negotiations. Before becoming a director in the European Commission's Directorate General for Employment in 2001, Bernhard Jansen coordinated legal affairs relating to the World Trade Organisation and international trade law.

Leila Kurki

Leila Kurki is director of the development department of the Finnish Confederation of Salaried Employees. Following a master's degree in the sociology of education, she received a licentiate in political science from the University of Turku. In 1994 she was appointed special adviser in the Finnish Confederation of Salaried Employees with responsibility for education and training policy, and employment policy. In her current post she is responsible for competence policy, qualitative development of working life, and employment issues.

Thérèse de Liedekerke

Thérèse de Liedekerke was born in Belgium in 1964. A graduate in political science of the Université Libre de Bruxelles, she also holds a MSc in politics of the world economy from the London School of Economics. In 1990 she joined Unice where she was first attached to the external relations department and in 1993 became advisor in the social affairs department. Ms de Liedekerke has been Director for Social Affairs at Unice since 1996.

[Speakers A-D] [Speakers M-Z]