Born in Cologne in 1963 and father of 3, Pascal Goergen was appointed Secretary General of the Assembly of European Regions (AER) in January 2012 until June 2014. Previously, between 2000 and 2011, he was the Diplomatic representative of the Brussels-Capital Region Representation to the European Union. Doctor of Political Sciences and graduate in international relations, he is passionate about Europe and has specialised in matters relating to regional policy and institutional lobbying of regions within the European decision-making process. With his expert knowledge of the role of regions in European policies, advocating for regions has clearly become his trademark. Since July 2014 he is Professor at the Business University EPHEC in Brussels and Louvain-la-Neuve. Author of two publications, “Lobbying in Brussels” (2006) and “Networking in Brussels” (2008), he is currently heavily involved in several key European dossiers: cohesion policy 2014-2020, research policy, the EU 2020 Strategy, the Euro-Mediterranean partnership and multi-level governance.