Head of Unit and deputy Mission Chief for Greece in the DG for Economic and Financial Affairs, at the European Commission, where he has been working since 1994. He is since 2012 in charge of monitoring the Greek economy, and - on behalf of the European Stability Mechanism – of the design and implementation of the economic adjustment programme of Greece. Previously, he was in charge of the surveillance of the UK, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Sweden, including as EU Mission Chief for the Balance of Payments assistance provided to Latvia (2009-2012), and of the cyclical analysis and the management of the EU Business Surveys programme (2008-09). He has been advising Joaquin Almunia, Commissioner for economic and monetary affairs (in 2004-08), on economic, budgetary and monetary issues in the EU and the euro area. He was educated as an international economist at Bocconi University, Milan and at the Institute for International Policy Studies, Milan. He has written extensively on budgetary policies, in relation to the Stability and Growth Pact and, more recently, on country specific matters. The latter include, as author/co-editor, the books 'EU Balance-of-payments assistance for Latvia. Foundations of success', European Economy, Occasional Paper, No. 120/2012 and The UK Economy: The Crisis in Perspective, 2011, Routledge; and the report "Product Market Reforms in Greece—Unblocking Investments and Exports", in DIW-VzW, Vol. 84, 03.2015,