New Director of the European Union Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators designated
The Administrative Board of the EU Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators (ACER) has designated Mr Christian Zinglersen as Director of the Agency. The designation took place yesterday and it followed a favourable opinion from the Board of Regulators. Before appointment, Mr Christian Zinglersen will be invited to make a statement before the competent committee of the European Parliament. His term of office is five years (renewable once for up to five years) as of 1 January 2020.
Mr Zinglersen is currently the first Head of the global Clean Energy Ministerial Secretariat hosted at the International Energy Agency in Paris (IEA). He previously served as Deputy Permanent Secretary at the Danish Ministry of Energy, Utilities, and Climate, where he was a member of the Ministry's Executive Board responsible inter alia for the energy policy portfolio. He served as the Danish government's representative and Vice-Chair of the IEA's Governing Board and was the Danish participant in the Director-General meetings on energy policy within the European Union. Prior to that he served as the Danish government's head of the global climate negotiations, culminating in Denmark's Presidency of the Council of the EU in 2012.
Mr Zinglersen started his career in the Danish Foreign Service where he focused on EU policy and law, having been posted to Brussels at the Danish Permanent Representation to the European Union. For a number of years he taught Union law at the University of Copenhagen. He holds a Master's Degree in Law from the University of Copenhagen and is a graduate of IESE Business School's Advanced Management Program and Harvard Kennedy School's Senior Managers in Government program. He is married to Christina, a dentist, with whom he has four children.
The Chair of the Administrative Board, Dr Romana Jordan, stated: “The Administrative Board warmly welcomes the designation of Mr Zinglersen as Director of the Agency. He is called to act in the interest of the Union and his role will be crucial to ensure the fulfilment of the Agency's growing mandate following the Clean Energy Package for all Europeans and its effectiveness in contributing to the development and evolution of the internal energy market given the increase of cross border flows and the rise of energy production from renewables which pose new challenges and call for stronger integration at a time of budgetary constraints for the Agency".
The Chair of the Board of Regulators, Ms Clara Poletti, stated: “Mr Zinglersen can count on the full support of National Regulatory Authorities (NRAs), who lie at the heart of the Agency's structure and whose contribution is vital for the Agency's work. With the implementation of the new Clean Energy Package framework, the Agency will play an even more prominent role in European energy regulation. In this context we look forward to working with the new Director towards an even stronger cooperation of regulatory authorities within the Agency, delivering benefits to consumers across the Union".
Mr Christian Zinglersen will succeed Mr Alberto Pototschnig, the first Director of the Agency, who has been instrumental in establishing and leading the Agency over the last nine years and in delivering on its extensive and growing mandate. Thanks to his pioneering work and leadership as well as the key contribution of the 28 NRAs, the Agency's success has been widely recognised.
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