Patrik Zoltvány

Patrik is a co-founder & senior Partner at FIPRA Slovakia and has worked in the area of public affairs with specific focus on EU Affairs since 1997.  Patrik has acted as EU Affairs Adviser to the Minister of Industry, as member of EU Affairs Committee to National Union of Employers, the EU institutions, various business, public sector and NGO clients. Patrik was heavily involved in assisting the business sector in Slovakia for preparations for EU membership. As member of the TEAM EUROPA run by the European Commission he was also involved in the campaign for the EU membership. In 2003, he managed the establishment of Slovakia first Public Affairs Office in Brussels and became the Head of EU Office.  Patrik started his career in the area of Pre-Accession Projects as project manager and consultant.  Later he developed a wider EU Consulting area - advisory on Strategy Consulting related to EU Structural Funds, Regulatory Affairs, Competition – State Aid, External Trade, EU Institutional Functioning and Capacity Building and his range of experience is reflected in Company's industry practice groups. Patrik's expertise also covers recruitment of Euro-managers and Euro-audits of multinational and local clients. Prior to this, Patrik was a Research Fellow in the European Parliament conducting political and economical research papers on candidate countries and worked for NGO sector. Lately, Patrik has been involved in issues dealing with the preparation for the introduction of the EURO, technical assistance projects. He is a frequent speaker on issues related to Impact on EU membership at international foras. Patrik is a member of the European Economic and Social Committee in Brussels where he serves as Member of the REX (External Affairs Committee) and TEN (transport, energy, infrastructure) Sections and is also active in other European Institutional Advisory Bodies and Committees. In the EESC he is a member of Western Balkans Contact Group where he assists countries in the region with EU membership preparation. He is a Vice - Chairman of the Board of the think-tank organization EPPP - European Public Policy Partnership. Patrik speaks fluent Slovak, Hungarian, English, basic French and Croat.