Eric Mamer was appointed Director-General for Environment on 1 July 2025. With over 30 years at the European Commission, his previous roles include Chief Spokesperson for the European Commission from 2019 to 2024, Director for Competitiveness at the Directorate-General for the Internal Market, and Deputy-Head of Cabinet for Commissioner Günther H. Oettinger. Mr Mamer has extensive experience on EU policies and their implementation.

Daniel Montalvo has over 20 years of experience in environment and climate policy, working across a wide range of topics and governance levels in Europe. He began his career in environmental consultancy, before serving as an industry regulator in Spain, where he led the environmental inspectorate for the North Madrid Region.

He later worked at the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Environment, focusing on industrial policy. For the past 12 years, Daniel has been based at the European Environment Agency (EEA), where he currently heads the Unit on Circular Economy and Clean Industry.

He leads the Agency’s work on the circular economy transition, climate economics and finance, as well as the interface between industry and the environment. His team compiles and produces European-level datasets and provides policy-relevant analysis to support the development and implementation of European Union policies.

Federico Foschini is a Senior Policy Advisor representing Utilitalia, and leads EU and Italian association relations as well as key environmental policy dossiers for HERAmbiente. He brings extensive experience in environmental permitting, circular economy projects development, strategic planning, and public affairs across the HERA Group, where he has worked since 2012.

Before joining HERA, he served as a Technologist and Policy Advisor at ISPRA, acting as a national expert in several European and national committees and working groups on environmental and waste policy.

Throughout his career, Federico has collaborated closely with international, EU, and national institutions and research bodies, developing a solid technical and institutional background in environmental governance.

Steve Claus is the Secretary General of Steel for Packaging Europe.

An entrepreneurial professional, Steve has more than 25 years of experience in Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR), collection, sorting and recycling of packaging waste and sustainability in general.

Having initially joined the association, formerly known as APEAL, in 2018 as Sustainability Manager, Steve has played a crucial role in various technical projects for packaging steel including recyclability, recycling rates, Life Cycle Analysis (LCA), Product Environmental Footprint (PEF) and recent discussions on Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR).

He previously held positions at Fost Plus, the Belgian EPR scheme for household packaging in Belgium, and provided guidance in and outside the EU to both industry and authorities in establishing innovative and sustainable circular models based on EPR.

He holds a master's degree in applied economics from the University of Antwerp.

Venera Vlad is responsible for Infrastructure business in Romania and Bulgaria at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, a portfolio of approximately EUR 1 billion of investments, including loans to local authorities, municipal utilities and companies as well as private sector financing.

Prior to joining EBRD in 2008, Mrs Vlad worked for the Romanian Ministry of Environment as Programming Director for European Funds; in this capacity she developed large scale programmes, leading to EUR 6 billion investments in the municipal and environmental infrastructure.

She is double graduated from the Engineering University and the Academy of Economic Studies in Bucharest. She also holds a Master’s Degree in Public Administration.

Marius is a passionate packaging professional with over 20 years of experience, driven by a mission to create sustainable, impactful solutions for people, the planet, and businesses through packaging innovation. Having worked for leading global companies in global and regional Packaging senior leadership roles, such as Wrigley, Mars Wrigley, and Danone SN, Marius has leveraged his deep expertise, curiosity, and collaborative approach to develop and implement forward-thinking packaging strategies.

Throughout his career, he has co-created and championed numerous packaging innovations strategies and initiatives, built and led high-performing teams worldwide, and mentored future talent. His passion for sustainability and innovation has consistently delivered measurable, market-impacting results. 

In 2024, Marius launched his own company, ViaPackaging UG. ViaPackaging collaborates closely  with leading consortiums such as CEFLEX (circularity of Flexible Packaging)  and CELAB-Europe to advance the circularity of specific packaging materials. 

Gabriel Moiceanu is President of the Federation of Intercommunity Development Associations (FADI) and Executive Director of the Intercommunity Development Association Servsal Argeș. Mr. Moiceanu has over 30 years of experience in the field of public services and 15 years in integrated waste management.

Together with FADI members, he was actively involved in promoting the interests of Intercommunity Development Associations that represent over 2900 territorial administrative units, as well as in the development of integrated waste management systems at the county level. FADI, as a professional association, was and it is an active partner for central and local authorities, being present in working groups whose activity resulted in proposals to improve waste legislation. The experience exchange and best practices took place in more than 35 conferences and public events related to municipal waste management, as well as in the 7 working groups organized within the federation.

"I hope that the forum will provide the perfect platform for communication at a professional level, both with specialists from Romania and from other countries."