Creation of new group of economic experts, chaired by Barroso

Brussels, 04/02/2005 (Agence Europe) - The Group of political advisers to the president of the Commission has set in place three new groups of external advisers. The Group of Economic Policy Analysis (GEPA) will be composed of twelve European economists and six senior officials from the Commission and will be chaired by José Manuel Barroso. It will have the task of presenting and assessing the different options that are offered in terms of specific Community policies. Although other economists may join the meetings, incumbent external members are: Paul de Grauwe (Professor at the Université Catholique de Louvain), Mathias Dewatripont (Professor of the Université Libre de Bruxelles), Juan Dolado (Professor at the Carlos III University Madrid), Klas Eklund (Chief Economist at the Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken), Vitor Gaspar (Special Adviser with the Bank of Portugal), Francesco Giavazzi (Professor at Bocconi University in Milan), John Llewellyn (Chief Economist with Lehman Brothers), Jean Pisany-Ferry (Professor at Université Paris-Dauphine), Richard Portes (Professor at the London Business School), André Sapir (Professor at the Université Libre de Bruxelles), Horst Siebert (President emeritus at the Institute for World Economics in Kiel) and Charles Wyplosz (Professor at the Institut universitaire de hautes etudes internationals in Geneva).