Michal Horváth
Research Fellow, Nuffield College, University of Oxford, Oxford

Michal is currently a research fellow at Nuffield College, University of Oxford. In 2007 and 2008, he advised the Slovak finance minister on matters related to Slovakia's Eurozone accession. Between 2008 and 2010, he was a member of the Economic and Financial Committee of the European Union and the Eurogroup Working Group on behalf of Slovakia. He also participated in the working group preparing the reform of economic governance in Europe for the task force led by the President of the European Council.

H.E. Ivan Mikloš
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance of the Slovak Republic

H.E. Ivan Mikloš is currently the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance of the Slovak Republic (since July 2010). His political career started in early 90-ties, when he became Minister of Privatization. Since then he was one of the leading figures of the economic transformation in Slovakia. He co-founded a think-tank MESA10. In 1998 he became Deputy Prime Minister for Economy and in 2002 Minister of Finance of the Slovak Republic. Ivan Mikloš significantly contributed to the entry of SR into the OECD and started an extensive and effective tax reform.

Amb. Ivan Korčok
Permanent Representative of the Slovak Republic to the European Union, Brussels

Ambassador Korčok serves as the Permanent Representative of the Slovak Republic to the EU since October 2009. Prior to this assignment, in 2005 – 2009 he was Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Ambassador in Berlin. Amb. Korčok began his career in 1992 at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs where he has held many significant positions such as the Head of the Department for Policy Planning and Analysis (1997 – 1998), Director General of the Division of International Organizations and Security Policy (2001 – 2002) or State Secretary in 2002 - 2004. In the meantime, in 2003, he was the Head of the Delegation of the Slovak Republic on Accession Talks to NATO and the member of the European Convention in Brussels.

Simon Tilford
Chief Economist, Centre for European Reform, London

Simon Tilford is Chief Economist of the Centre for European Reform, an organization that aims to promote new ideas for reforming the European Union. He works on many economic issues facing European economies, with a particular focus on competitiveness, the environmental policy and economic and monetary union. Simon has acted as an advisor to the House of Lords, a number of EU governments, as well as financial institutions and business federations. He regularly comments on European developments in the media, and is a regular contributor to the Financial Times and other newspapers.

Marcin Piatkowski
Senior Economist, Warsaw Office, World Bank, Warsaw

Dr. Piatkovski has been working as Resident Scholar at TIGER, Assistant Professor of Economics at Kozminski University and Senior Economist at the World Bank in Warsaw. He is former Chief Economist of PKO BP, the largest bank in Poland (2008). In the past he worked as the economist in the European Department and Advisor to Executive Director at the International Monetary Fund in Washington D.C (2004 – 2008). In 2002 – 03 he served as advisor to Poland's Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance. Dr. Piatkovski gained his Ph.D. degree in Economics from Kozminski University and M.A. in Finance and Banking from the Warsaw School of Economics. He is economic commentator and columnist in Polish and international media, including Financial Times and the Economist. His research interests include global economy, fiscal policy, information society, foreign policy.