ABOUT US
Explore the Council for European Public Space: Introducing the Team and the Council.
Team
The team coordinates the Council’s activities by leveraging and combining the expertise of its members. Through collaborative studies and pilot projects with partners across Europe, we demonstrate the potential for a stronger European public sphere.
Council
The members of the Council contribute their extensive experience, expertise, and vast networks to develop and support concrete initiatives for the Council for European Public Space.
MEET THE TEAM
At the Council for European Public Space, our mission is clear: to foster a European Public Space built on democratic principles. As a dynamic think-and-do-tank, we’re committed to crafting evidence-based strategies that drive progress towards an open, fair, and secure European Public Space.
Matthias Pfeffer
Germany
Founding & Managing Director
Michael-Bernhard Zita
Austria
Research, Projects & Networks Manager
Eva King
Austria
Stakeholder Engagement & Strategy Consulting
Inka Tucek
Austria
Communication & Project Coordination
MEET THE COUNCIL
Our council consists of dedicated professionals from diverse backgrounds, each contributing unique perspectives, expertise, and passion to the Council for European Public Space.
Christoph Becker
Germany
Deputy Chairman of the ZDF Television Council, Programme Advisory Board of ARTE GEIE, Member of the Board of Hamburg Music Business e.V.
Francesca Bria
Italy
Member of the Board of RAI, President of the Italian national innovation Fund, Member of the High-level Roundtable for the New European Bauhaus set up by the EC President Ursula von der Leyen.
Nicola Frank
Germany
Former Head of Institutional and International Relations and Head of European Affairs at the European Broadcasting Union (EBU). She is an expert in Public Affairs, European and Media Policy, Journalism, Media Innovation and Media Development. Before joining the EBU she represented Media and Entertainment International as Deputy General Secretary. She started her career in the European Commission where she was responsible for a Communication Programme towards the Mediterranean and the Near and Middle East.
Minna Aslama Horowitz
Finland / United States
Docent at the University of Helsinki, member of the EU-EDMO Hub NORDIS, Fellow at the Media and Journalism Research Center (Spain) and Fellow of International Communication/Adjunct Professor St. John’s University (USA), her research focuses on European media and communications policies, public service media, communication/epistemic rights, and audiences’ experiences of self-efficacy and trust.
Paul Nemitz
Germany
Principal Adviser for Digital Transition Strategies to the European Commission. He previously led the reform of EU data protection law, negotiated the EU-US Privacy Shield, and worked with major U.S. tech companies on the EU Code of Conduct against online hate speech. Nemitz is a guest professor at the College of Europe in Bruges and serves on several boards. He is also a trustee of the Leo Baeck Institute and a board member of the Association for Accountability and Internet Democracy (AAID).
Jan-Hendrik Passoth
Germany
Professor of Sociology of Technology, Director of the European New School of Digital Studies) and Vice-President of Research and Career Development at European University Viadrina Frankfurt (Oder), his research focuses on Politics of Software and Digital Infrastructure, Co-Creation and Critical Prototyping and (Post-)Actor-Network Theory.
Jean-Paul Philippot
Belgium
President at the European Broadcasting Union from 2009 to 2018 and President of Médias Francophones Publics since 2021. He entered the audiovisual realm in 2002. In 2018 he spearheaded a plan to transition RTBF from traditional vertical structures (TV, Radio, and Web) to an audience-centric approach, adapting to the changing media landscape.
Barbara Prainsack
Austria
Professor of Comparative Policy Analysis and Head of the Research Platform Governance of digital practices at University of Vienna, Chair of the European Group on Ethics in Science and New Technologies (EGE). Her academic research focus on regulatory, societal, and ethical dimensions of biosciences and biotechnology; citizen science; practice and policies of solidarity.
Krisztina Rozgonyi
Hungary
Senior Scientist at the Institute for Comparative Media and Communication Studies, Austrian Academy of Sciences, and expert in media, telecom, and IP law and policy. She is a fellow at the University of Vienna’s Department of Communication, bridging research and policy. Formerly a telecommunications regulator in an EU Member State, she now advises international organizations, governments, and regulators on media freedom and digital platform governance.
Maria João Rodrigues
Portugal
President of the Foundation for European Progressive Studies (FEPS) with extensive academic expertise in EU political economy. Rodrigues was professor of European economic policies in the Université libre de Bruxelles and in the University Institute of Lisbon (ISCTE).
© Jochen Stoss Bremen
Helga Trüpel
Germany
Chairwoman of the Europa-Union Bremen, former Member of the European Parliament (The Greens–European Free Alliance) was involved in the European Union’s copyright reform in favour of an ancillary copyright.
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Klaus Unterberger
Austria
Dr. Klaus Unterberger is a Journalist and Head of the Public Value Competence Center at Austrian Broadcasting ORF, Initiator of “Act Now”, the “Public Service Internet Manifesto” and many coordination activities in the PSM sector.
André Wilkens
Germany
Director of the European Cultural Foundation in Amsterdam, focused on fostering European sentiment through culture and education. He is Board Chair of Tactical Tech, co-founder of the Initiative Offene Gesellschaft, and founding member of the European Council on Foreign Relations. Previously, he was Strategy Director at Stiftung Mercator, Director of the Open Society Institute Brussels, and Head of Strategic Communications at UNHCR.
Jakob von Weizsäcker
Germany
Minister of Finance and for Science since April 2022. From 2019 to 2022 he was the Chief economist at the Federal Ministry of Finance. From 2014 to 2019 he served a Member of the European Parliament for Thuringia.
ABOUT
The Council for European Public Space is a non-governmental new-style think-and-do tank that brings together eminent European personalities and develops evidence-based and politically viable strategies to create an open, fair and safe digital European Public Space. It works like a think and do tank by initiating research and studies, bringing together actors from politics, science, and civil society, and initiating joint projects that advance Europe on the path to a democratically constituted digital public space.
Supported by grants from the European Cultural Foundation.
The Council for European Public Space is registered in the Transparency Register of the European Commission.