Professor Marzena Czarnecka

Head of the Department of Energy Transformation at the University of Economics in Katowice, Minister of Industry, legal advisor with experience in the regulatory sector, and Doctor habilitatus in economic sciences. Specializes in regulatory affairs, consumer policy, competition law, as well as energy law and labor law. Author and co-author of scientific works in the fields of energy and economic law. For over 20 years, she has run a legal advisory office and collaborated with all the major, mainly private, energy companies in Poland. In her professional career, she has also worked as an in-house lawyer for energy companies. Long-standing Judge of the Disciplinary Court of the Regional Chamber of Legal Advisors in Katowice.

Since 1994, she has been professionally affiliated with the University of Economics in Katowice, formerly known as the Academy of Economics. Academic teacher, lecturer, researcher, and speaker at national and international conferences. Professor and head of the Department of Energy Transformation at the University of Economics in Katowice, former coordinator of the European project "Tools for Diversity." She also lectures at universities in Europe, including Saarbrücken (Germany) and Granada (Spain). For several years, she served as the representative of ACC Europe in Poland. 

She obtained legal advisor qualifications and started her professional practice in her own law firm. In 2007, she became a member of the Regional Disciplinary Court at the Regional Chamber of Legal Advisors in Katowice. From 2010 to 2012, she served as a coordinator at Vattenfall Sales Poland, and from 2012 to 2017, she was the Director of the Legal Department at the Tauron Group. In 2013, she became a member of the Energy Trading Society and the coordinator of the Energy Section at the Center for Antitrust and Regulatory Studies (CARS). She joined the editorial board of the "Internet Antitrust and Regulatory Quarterly." She also assumed the role of Chairperson of the Supervisory Board of the Specialist Hospital in Zabrze.

On December 13, 2023, she was appointed Minister of Industry.

Dr. Vicente López-Ibor Mayor

Founding Partner and President of the law firm Estudio Jurídico Internacional Abogados López-Ibor Mayor & Asociados, Spain & President of the European Federation of Energy Law Associations (EFELA)

Vicente López-Ibor Mayor is an expert in the energy sector, he shares the academic

world with the business world, where he has been working for more than twenty-eight years.

He has been a member of the Steering Committee and the Legal Group of EURELECTRIC (European Grouping of the Electricity Supply Industry), as well as the “Law and “Europe–Law” Groups of UNIPEDE (Union of International Producers and Distributors of ElectricalEnergy), European Group made up of the main electricity companies of the European Union. He has been an Expert of the Energy Commission, of the Economic and Social Committee of the European Communities; Special Adviser to the Commissioner for Energy, Transport; and of the Commissioner for Institutional Affairs of the European Commission and for the reform of the Treaty (IGC).

He has been Member of the National Commission of the Electrical System (CNSE) and Advisor of the National Energy Commission (CNE), current National Commission of Markets and Competition (CNMC). He is a founding member of the European Council of Energy Regulators and draftsman-rapporteur of the founding document. He is President of the Committee of Former Energy Regulators of the CNE.

Borys Budka, Ph. D.

Adjunct of the Department of Energy Transformation at the University of Economics in Katowice, Polish politician, member of Sejm of the 7th, 8th and 9th legislature, Minister of Justice in 2015, Minister of State Assets from December 13, 2023, to May 13, 2024, elected as a Member of the European Parliament in 2024.

He graduated from the University of Silesia in Katowice, where he obtained his master's degree in law. in 2011 he completed his doctorate in economics. His professional career began in academia, where he served as an assistant professor in the Department of Law at the University of Silesia. Currently, he is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Energy Transformation at the University of Economics in Katowice. He completed his legal advisor apprenticeship and began his professional practice as a legal advisor in 2007.

In the 1990s, he was a member of the Freedom Union. In the local elections of 2002, 2006, and 2010, he was elected as a city councillor in Zabrze. From 2002 to 2005, he served as vice-chairman and then as chairman of the city council until 2006. In 2006, he joined the Civic Platform (PO). In the 2011 parliamentary elections, he successfully ran for the Sejm of the 7th term from the PO list. On May 4, 2015, he was appointed Minister of Justice in the government of Ewa Kopacz, a position he held until November 16, 2015, when Beata Szydło's government was sworn in. In the 2015 elections, he was re-elected to the Sejm from the PO list. On February 26, 2016, he was elected vice-chairman of the Civic Platform. On December 13, 2023, Budka was appointed Minister of State Assets, a position he held until May 13, 2024. In 2024, he was elected as a Member of the European Parliament.

Professor Aoife M. Foley

Professor Aoife M. Foley is Chair in Net Zero Infrastructure at The University of Manchester’s School of Engineering, bringing over 15 years of academic expertise in energy and sustainability and nearly 15 years of global engineering experience across energy, pharma, telecoms, and local government. Previously a Professor in Sustainable Engineering at Queen’s University Belfast, she has developed interdisciplinary research addressing energy and climate challenges, published in prestigious journals like Nature Energy, Applied Energy, and Renewable Energy.

Her academic credentials span multiple engineering fields, holding a PhD in Energy Engineering from University College Cork, complemented by degrees in Transportation (Trinity College Dublin) and Environmental Engineering (UCC). Professor Foley’s research consistently places her among the Top 2% of global
scientists according to Stanford and Elsevier rankings. Her influence extends through keynote presentations worldwide and awards, including the 2019 Bill Curtain and Jose Maria Sarriegi Awards.