Jasmina Keputa

Jasmina Keputa has a background in public and civil law. She supports Alber & Geiger clients via research, strategic analysis, and outreach.

Jasmina previously worked as a Policy and Legal Analyst the Albanian Ministry of Health where she gained in-depth health policy knowledge.

Jasmina earned a MSc in Public Law and a BA in Law from the University of Tirana. She is a member of the Albanian Bar Association.

 

Jacob Vries

Jacob Vries

Jacob Vries is a former EU official of the General Secretariat of the Council of the European Union.

As Head of Unit of climate and environment, he dealt with these policies also in the negotiations within the UN framework. Prior to this, he was deputy administrator of the ATHENA mechanism, responsible for the financing of EU military operations.

Before joining the General Secretariat of the Council, he worked at the Dutch Permanent Representation to the EU where he dealt with the EU budget and the Multi Annual Financial Framework.

He started his career at the Dutch Ministry of Finance. Jacob holds a master degree in public administration from the Technical University of Twente.

Matthijs Geuze

Matthijs Geuze

Matthijs Geuze is the former Head of the Lisbon Registry (Geographical Indications – GIs) at the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). He worked for WIPO in the negotiations on the Geneva Act of the Lisbon Agreement on Appellations of Origin and Geographical Indications.

Mr. Geuze started his career in the Dutch Patent Office, being its the General Secretary. As member of the GATT Secretariat during the Uruguay Round of Multilateral Trade Negotiations, he was involved in the negotiations that resulted in the TRIPS Agreement of the WTO. In the WTO Secretariat, he was Secretary of the Council for TRIPS and was also involved in dispute settlement proceedings on intellectual property matters.

In WIPO, he was Head of the Legal Division of the International Registration Systems and member of the Cabinet of the Deputy Director General responsible for the Brands and Designs Sector.

Matthijs holds a Law degree from the University of Leyden.

Klaudjo Kavaja

Klaudjo KavajaKlaudjo Kavaja has experience in EU policy on human rights and education. Klaudjo served as a Board Member of the Western Balkans Alumni Association, where he led various projects, organized conferences and events at national and regional levels, and advocated for the modernization of higher education in the Western Balkans.

Klaudjo has also worked for renowned international organizations such as UNESCO, where he assisted in education policy reviews, prepared reports and analyses for countries’ progress on SDGs, and contributed to the preparation of working papers for the SDGs. In addition, he has worked for international NGOs, engaging with international organisations, governments, and private donor agencies, and for independent non-profit European media platforms.

Klaudjo holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science and International Relations from SUNY Empire State College and a Master’s Degree from UNYT in Albania. He also studied Education, Conflict, and International Development at the University of Amsterdam and holds a Master’s Degree in Education Policies and Global Development from the Autonomous University of Barcelona as an Erasmus scholar.

Erik Nooteboom

Erik Nooteboom is a former official of the European Commission. He represented the European Commission in many bilateral negotiations with third countries in various policy fields, and he represented the European Union in numerous multilateral negotiations within the framework of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), the WTO, and the GATT.

As Head of the Legal Department of DG REGIO, he was in charge of all legal affairs related to the EU Cohesion Policy and Structural Funds and represented the EU in the negotiations on the review of the WTO Government Procurement Agreement (GPA) in the Doha Round.

In DG FISMA, Erik dealt with the EU Payment Services Directive (PSD2), the Interchange Fees concerning bankcards (MIF), and the International Accounting Standards (IFRS). He represented the European Commission in the Board of the European Financial Reporting Advisory Group (EFRAG) and in the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB).

In DG Internal Market Erik worked on Industrial Property, Patents, Trademark, the EU Industrial Design Regulations and in the creation of the EUIPO agency in Alicante.

Erik started his career as legal adviser in the Legal Department of the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs.

Edison Mehqemeja

 

Edison Mehqemeja specializes in international relations, human rights advocacy, and security issues. His ability to analyze international markets and fields of interest enables him to provide strategic insight into a broad range of European geopolitical issues.

Edison has worked as a political consultant for the Republican Party of Albania, where he managed and coordinated the political campaign of MP Fatmir Mediu. He provided consultancy on communication techniques, organized media campaigns, and was focused on electoral dynamics. Furthermore, Edison has been a Project Officer at the Southeastern Europe Security Center, where he conducted policy research and analysis on governance & compliance, human rights, and security affairs.

He has studied International Business and European Affairs at ACG in Greece, and has obtained Bachelor’s and Master’s Degree in Political Science & International Relations at UNYT in Albania.

Guus Houttuin

Guus Houttuin is a high ranking former EU official of the European External Action Service (EEAS), the EU Foreign Service. He was the Principal Trade Adviser and Chair of the OECD Multi Stakeholder Steering Group.

Before that he was the Deputy Head of Delegation and Permanent Representative of the European Union to the World Trade Organization, Ambassador for the Council of the EU to the UN in Geneva (Human Rights Council, ECOSOC, ILO, WHO, UNCTAD, ITC, WIPO and ICRC), EU lead negotiator for the World Summit on the Information Society including the Internet Governance Forum and dealing with the high-level political negotiations including the Middle East Peace Process and the Iran talks.

Guus was prior member of the Legal Service of the Council of the EU, negotiator for Commission and Council of the Kyoto Protocol, Energy Charter Treaty and Cartagena Protocol and agent for the Council before the European Court of Justice on a wide variety of cases including on business and economic issues and compensation for damages. He was mediator to the European Parliament and Council on EU environment legislation, and a member of the first team of the EUREKA project (the Mitterrand-Genscher initiative).

He started his career as a Policy and Legal Adviser at the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs, a Dutch delegate to the OECD-CSTP and Industry Committee, to the EU ESPRIT program and to COST. He was responsible for the Dutch state aid approval by the Commission, including pre-approval advocacy.

Guus holds a law degree from the University of Amsterdam.

Martina Morabito

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Martina Morabito focusses on international relations, human rights, and defence.

She worked at Consulate of the Republic of the Philippines in Italy and on constitutional law & human rights, security & defence, and governance & compliance, with a specific focus on Asia and Southern Europe for CPG. She also worked in Finabel, the European Army Interoperability Centre.

She obtained a Master’s Degree in International Relations with a focus on International Politics and Security and a Bachelor’s Degree in Diplomatic and International Sciences at the University of Bologna.

Alain Georges Van Hamme

Alain Georges Van Hamme is a seasoned former EU official focussing on EU competition and trade law issues, European public service law and general public policy matters.

Before joining Alber & Geiger he was a civil servant at the European Court of Justice and at the European Commission’s Secretariat General, working closely with Commissioner Declercq and Presidents Delors and Santer. Alain also worked at the European Commission’s Representation Office in The Hague. He also was legal adviser for the hearing officers in Directorate General for Competition at the European Commission. Before his EU career Alain Georges worked as an associate attorney with the Brussels office of Baker & McKenzie.

Alain was one of the pioneers of Trans European public service cooperation (Twinning) both in the context of enlargement and neighbourhood, setting up the first structured network of public administrations.

He holds law degrees from Ghent State University, from the College of Europe and from the Pritzker School of law, Northwestern University in Chicago, and is a registered attorney at the Brussels bar.

Prof. Dr. Siegbert Alber †

Prof. Dr. Siegbert Alber was the Chairman of the firm. He was Vice-President of the European Parliament and Advocate General at the Court of Justice of the European Union. Before that he was a Member of the Council of Europe, a Member of the Western European Union, a Member of the German Parliament, a Member of the European Parliament as such participated in numerous committees in the European Parliament. In particular Prof. Dr. Siegbert Alber was a Member and the Chairman of the Committee on Legal Affairs and Citizens’ Rights as well as Vice-Chairman of the Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Consumer Protection. Further, he was Chairman of the Delegation responsible for relations with the Baltic States and of the Sub-committees on Data Protection and on Poisonous or Dangerous Substances. In addition, he was Vice-Chairman of the Delegation for relations with the Gulf States.

Prof. Dr. Siegbert Alber holds numerous high decorations from different states. He is Officer of the French Legion of Honour, holds the Great Cross of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany, the Grand Cross of Merit of Luxembourg, the Grand Decoration of Honour in Gold for Services to the Republic of Austria and the Order of Merit of Baden-Wuerttemberg. Prof. Dr. Siegbert Alber is an Honorary Professor at the European Institute of the University of Saarland. He holds a law degree from the University of Tubingen and a PhD in law from the University of Munich.