Katarina Areskoug Mascarenhas is the EU Commission Head of Representation in Sweden. Her previous professional background includes positions at the Swedish Ministry of Foreign Affairs and at the Permanent Representation of Sweden to the European Union in Brussels. Katarina worked as State Secretary from 2010-2014 to Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt with responsibilities for EU and foreign inquires at the Prime Minister's Office.

Markus Bonekamp has over 20 years of professional background within the European Parliament in various appointments and is currently the Head of the European Parliament Liaison Office in Sweden since 2012. The European Parliament's office in Sweden represents the European Parliament as an institution and provides comprehensive information on European Parliament, their working methods and the political and legislative decisions that are being made.

Jörgen Hettne has a comprehensive background in law and currently works as associate professor at Lund University. Jörgen is also currently Acting Director and senior researcher at the Swedish Institute for European Policy Studies (SIEPS). His previous professional background reflects his academic profile in law having worked as Advisor in EU law at the Ministry for Foreign Affairs, 1992 to 1995, as Legal Secretary and Head of Cabinet in the Court of First Instance of the European Union, 1995 to 2001, and as Lecturer in EU Law and PhD candidate in EU Law at Stockholm University, 2001 to 2006. Jörgen has between 2008 and 2014 also chaired several national enquiries ranging from alcoholic beverages to the internal market of the European Union.

Lars Oxelheim is professor of International Business and Finance at Lund Institute of Economic Research. He is also chairman of the research faculty at Lund University. Lars has a comprehensive background working with European issues and is the founder of the Swedish Network for European Studies in Economics and Business, financed by the Swedish Government. He is also an elected member of the European International Business Academy (EIBA) and of the Royal Society of Letters at Lund. Lars Oxelheim is also honorary professor at the Fudan University in Shanghai, China. Furthermore, Mr. Oxelheim has authored, co-authored or edited approximately 40 research monographs and is the author of a substantial number of published research articles and has won two awards for his research. Lars’ primary area of research concerns the interplay between the firm and its macroeconomic environment encompassing economic and financial integration as well as managerial aspects, corporate governance and risk management.

Sven-Olof Petersson was born on 12 March 1947. After graduating in Economics in 1970 he completed diplomatic training at the Ministry for Foreign Affairs in Stockholm, Sweden. From there on Mr. Petersson has worked at numerous embassies and the Swedish delegation to the Council of Europe. Between 1984 and 1989 Sven-Olof worked as the director of the Swedish Foreign Minister’s Office and in 1995 he became part of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs “EU reflection group”. From 1995 onward Sven-Olof has held several EU related positions within the Swedish Foreign Ministry. In 2002 Mr Petersson was appointed ambassador with the Permanent Representation of Sweden to the European Union in Brussels. Sven-Olof is currently chairman at the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) in Sweden.

Olle Schmidt was born 1949 in Axvall, Sweden. He holds a Master degree in Literature, Nordic languages, History, Politics and Information from Lund University. He has an extensive career in both national and European politics. He was elected Member of Parliament, Sveriges Riksdag, for the Liberal party between 1991 and 1994. After that he worked with local politics for the Liberal Party in the region of Skåne from which position he moved on to become Member of the European Parliament in 1999, (1999-2004, 2006-2014). Olle Schmidt was between 2006 and 2014 group leader for the Swedish Liberal Members of European Parliament, part of the Group of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE) and in 2013 Olle Schmidt became Vice-President for the ALDE Party.During his time the European Parliament Mr Schmidt was a member of the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs (ECON) and a member of the Special committee on organised crime, corruption and money laundering, special committee on the financial, economic and social crises and member of the European Parliament Delegation to the ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly.

Göran von Sydow is the Director of the Swedish Institute of European Policy Studies, SIEPS. Göran has previously been appointed Senior Researcher at SIEPS and worked at Stockholm University and the Government Offices of Sweden. He holds a PhD in political science from 2013 on a study dealing with EU sceptical parties following studies from Stockholm University, the European University Institute in Florence, and SciencesPo and Sorbonne in Paris.