Angelino Alfano graduated from the Catholic University of Milan; he is a Lawyer and has a PhD in Corporate Law from the University of Palermo. Mr Alfano has been a freelance journalist since 1989, having worked for numerous regional and national papers. In 1994 he was elected to the Agrigento Province Council, where he acted as the Chairman of the Committee on General Affairs and the Co-ordinator for the Popolo della Libertà (PDL) party. In 1996, he was the youngest member elected to the Sicilian Regional Assembly. He was Chair for the parliamentary group of the Arts (Sicilian Regional Assembly) in the Forza Italia party from 1998 to 2001. In 2001, he became a member of the Italian Chamber of Deputies, elected in western Sicily in the list of Forza Italia. He has been a member of the Budget, Treasury and Planning Committee (from 2001 - 2006); the Parliamentary Committee on Regional Affairs (from 2001 - 2006); the Parliamentary Committee of Inquiry on the deal Telekom / Serbia (from 2002 - 2004); and the Committee for Legislation (from 2001, and he became its secretary from 2002 - 2005). Since 2002 Mr Alfano has been the Secretary of the Conference of the Regional Co-ordinators of the Forza Italia party. In 2005 he was appointed Regional Co-ordinator of Forza Italia for Sicily, a position from which he resigned in 2008. In 2006 he was re-elected to the National Parliament in western Sicily for Forza Italia. He was a member of the Committee on Budget, Treasury and Planning from 2006 - 2008. He is a signatory of several bills and intervened in the sessions and in the Committee on various topics. In 2008 he was re-elected to the National Parliament as a member of the PDL party. In 2008 he was appointed Minister of Justice, the youngest ever in that post. Mr Alfano was elected Political Secretary of the PDL party 1 July, 2011; in the same month he left his position as Minister of Justice to dedicate himself entirely to the party.

Since July 2012 Angelo Marcello Cardani has been the new President of the Italian Communications Authority, appointed by Prime Minister Mario Monti. Mr Cardani has been Special Advisor of the Chief Competition Economist at DG Competition between 2004 and 2005. Between 1999 and 2004, he served as Deputy Head of Cabinet of Mario Monti, when he was European Commissioner for Competition Policy. From 1989 to 1995 he was Director General and Board Member of the International Management Institute of St. Petersburg (IMISP). Mr Cardani has a degree in Economics from Università Bocconi. He completed his studies at the London School of Economics and Political Science. He has a long academic career, which includes tenure at Università Bocconi from 1985 to 2012. He has authored numerous academic papers on management and economics topics.

Pier Ferdinando Casini is President of UDC, the Union of the Centre coalition of parties in Italy. In 2012 Mr Casini was re-elected as President of the CDI/Centrist Democratic International, that he has been leading since 2004. He has been Member of the Italian Parliament since 1983 and was re-elected after the general elections of 1987 and 1992. He was then Member of the National Direction, in charge of Training, Culture and Propaganda and, eventually, during the last years of the Party’s existence, leader of its moderate faction. Other previous roles include: President of the Interparliamentary Union from 2005 to 2008 (he is currently their Honorary President); President of the Italian Chamber of Deputies from 2001 to 2006; and Member of the European Parliament from 1996 to 1999 and from 1999 to 2001 with the European People’s Party. In 1994 he established the Christian Democratic Centre, where he has served as Political Secretary, then President. The Christian Democratic Centre was then transformed into the Union of the Centre. For this new party, he was elected as Member of Parliament again in 1994, 1996, 2001, 2006 and 2008. In 1978 Mr Casini earned a Law degree at Bologna University, where he was the student representative at the university's Law Faculty Council. He later joined the Christian Democratic Party and become the Party’s National Delegate for the Youth.

Luigi Contu was named Editor-in-Chief of ANSA in June 2009. Mr Contu began his career with the daily economics newspaper Ore 12 in 1980. He then worked on ANSA’s economics desk for two years before being hired in 1987. After three years he joined the political-parliamentary desk but continued to cover economic and financial news, following closely the work of parliamentary committees and the activities of the government in terms of public accounts. In 1997 Editor-in-Chief Giulio Anselmi entrusted Mr Contu with the leadership of editorial policy and under the direction of Pierluigi Magnaschi, the next Editor-in-Chief, he was appointed deputy Editor of the agency with the task of coordinating editorial policy and relations with the institutional world. In those years, he was elected First Secretary and then Vice President of the Parliamentary Press Association. In 2004 he moved to daily newspaper La Repubblica where Editor Ezio Mauro entrusted him with the management of the main news desk. He left La Repubblica for ANSA in 2009.

Ferruccio de Bortolli began his journalistic career at Corriere della Sera Publishing in 1973 working on the editorial staff of the newspapers Corriere dei ragazzi and Corriere dei Piccoli. In 1975 he worked as Chronicler on the editorial staff of Corriere d’Informazione and in 1979 he was Reporter then Economics Editor at Corriere della Sera. He worked as Editor in Chief for the magazine Europeo and for the newspaper Il Sole 24ORE. In April 1987, he was Editor in Chief and Commentator for the Economics section of Corriere della Sera. In 1993 he was Deputy Editor of Corriere della Sera. In 1997 he was designated Editor of Corriere della Sera. In 2003 he left Corriere della Sera when he became CEO of RCS Libri S.p.A. Mr de Bortoli has been Chairman of FLAMMARION s.a. and of the Belgian Casterman, Vice-Chairman of Associazione Italiana Editori (A.I.E.), and Member of the Board of Directors of Adelphi, Skira, Marsilio and Ras-Allianz. In 2004 he was Editorialist for the newspaper La Stampa. In 2005 he was Editor of Il Sole 24 ORE and Publishing Director of Il Sole 24ORE Publishing Group (Radio 24, Radiocor). Since 2009 he was the Editor of Corriere della Sera and Vice-Chairman of Rizzoli Corriere della Sera Foundation. He has been President of Pier Lombardo Foundation and of Theatre Franco Parenti. He is currently President of Memoriale della Shoah Foundation of Milan. He is a member of the Board of Directors of the following Foundations: Giorgio Cini of Venice, Amici del Museo Poldi Pezzoli, Vidas and Floriani. He is also a member of the Aspen Institute Italia. Mr de Bortoli has won several journalistic awards. In 2007 he was awarded the Legion d’honneur by the French Republic President and the Ambrogino d’Oro by the Municipality of Milan. In 2010 he also received the title of Commendatore by the Italian Republic President.

Guy Dinmore was appointed the Financial Times Rome correspondent in September 2007, having spent five years in Washington as diplomatic correspondent. He joined the FT in 1997 in the Balkans, covering the Kosovo war and the Nato air campaign until his expulsion from Belgrade in 1999. He then moved to Iran to reopen the FT bureau in Tehran. Previously, Mr Dinmore worked for Reuters for 16 years, with postings in London, Vienna, Poland, Beijing, Hong Kong and in Nicosia covering the Middle East and Africa.

Gabriele Galateri di Genola holds a degree in Law and an MBA from Columbia University. Mr Galateri di Genola was appointed CEO of IFIL in 1986 and CEO and General Manager of IFI in 1993; subsequently, in 2002, he was appointed CEO of Fiat. From 2003 to June 2007 he was Chairman of the Board of Directors of Mediobanca. From 2003 to 2010 he was Deputy Chairman and a member of the Board of Directors of Generali. He is Chairman of TIM Brasil Serviços e Participações S.A, member of the Board of Telecom Italia S.p.A. (Chairman from 2007 to 2011), and a non-executive Board Member of TIM Participações S.A, Italmobiliare S.p.A., Azimut-Benetti S.p.A., SAIPEM SpA, Lavazza SpA, Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia – Foundation, Giorgio Cini Foundation and Edenred S.A. He is Chairman of the Executive Committee of the Italian Institute of Technology and Member of the International Advisory Board of Columbia Business School. Mr Galateri di Genola was appointed Chairman of Assicurazioni Generali on 8 April 2011.

From 1996-99 Luigi Gambardella ran the regulatory and institutional affairs for Olivetti. In 1999 Mr Gambardella joined the Telecom Italia Group, in charge of relations with the National Regulatory Authority, and he is currently their Vice President Relations with International Institutions and Organisations. He is also the Chairman of the Executive Board of ETNO, BIAC Vice Chair to the OECD ICCP Committee, President of EUBrasil - the Association for the development of the relationship between Europe and Brazil, a member of the Advisory and Support Group of BUSINESSEUROPE, a member of the board of the European American Business Council, a member of the board of the European Internet Foundation, a member of the Competitiveness Working Group of the European Round Table of Industrialists, President of Puntoit - the Italian Association for the development of the digital economy, and a member of Comitato Europa of CONFINDUSTRIA. Mr Gambardella graduated in economics from Bocconi University in Milan, Italy.

Neelie Kroes is Vice President of the European Commission and European Digital Agenda Commissioner. Prior to serving as European Commissioner for Competition from 2004-09, Ms Kroes' charity work included advising the Nelson Mandela Children's Fund and World Cancer Research Fund, and she has an ongoing interest in mental health issues. After politics she was appointed President of Nyenrode University from 1991 - 2000, and served on various company boards, including Lucent Technologies, Volvo, and P&O Nedlloyd. From 1982-89 she served as Minister for Transport, Public Works and Telecommunication in the Netherlands. Her political career started on the Rotterdam Municipal Council, and in 1971 she was elected as a Member of the Dutch Parliament for the liberal VVD party. Ms Kroes was born in Rotterdam, The Netherlands, where she also attended school and helped to build her family's transport business. She studied Economics at Erasmus University, before working there for six years as an Assistant Professor.

Enrico Letta is a member of the Italian Parliament. He was Undersecretary of State to the Prime Minister of the centre-left government led by Romano Prodi from 2006 to 2008. He served as Minister for EU Affairs (1998-1999), as Minister for Industry, Commerce and Crafts (January-April 2000, second D’Alema Government) and as Minister for Industry, Commerce and Crafts and Foreign Trade (2000-2001, second Amato Government). He heads an independent think tank, Arel, and he is Vice President of Aspen Institute Italia. He is member of the Trilateral Commission and President of the “Dialogue Forum Italy-Spain. Born in Pisa, he spent the first years of his life in Strasbourg. He graduated in International Law at the University of Pisa and obtained a PhD in European Union Law at the School for Advanced Studies “Sant’Anna” of Pisa. He has been member of the Italian Parliament since 2001 excluding from 2004 to 2006 when he became member of the European Parliament. He is author of many books concerning international and economic affairs, with particular reference to European enlargement. We can mention: Euro sì - Morire per Maastricht (Laterza, 1997); Dialogo intorno all’Europa (with L. Caracciolo, Laterza, 2002); L’allargamento dell’Unione Europea (Il Mulino, 2003); L’Europa a Venticinque (Il Mulino, 2005); In questo momento sta nascendo un bambino (Rizzoli, 2007); Costruire una Cattedrale (Mondadori 2009) and L’Europa è finita? (ADD Editore 2010) He is 46 years old. He is married with Gianna and they have three children, Giacomo, Lorenzo and Francesco.

Mario Monti has been the Prime Minister of Italy since November 2011. From November 2011 until July 2012 Mr Monti was also Minister of Economy and Finance. He is Senator-for-life appointed by the Italian President of the Republic, Giorgio Napolitano. He was for ten years a member of the European Commission, in charge of the internal market, financial services and tax policy (1995-1999), then of competition (1999-2004). In addition to a number of high-profile cases, he introduced radical modernisation reforms of EU antitrust and merger control and led, with the US authorities, the creation of the International Competition Network (ICN). He was President of Bocconi University, Milan; European Chairman of the Trilateral Commission; and Chairman of Bruegel, the European think-tank launched in 2005. He is the author of the report to the President of the European Commission on “A new strategy for the single market” (May 2010). Born in Varese, Italy, Mr Monti graduated from Bocconi University and did graduate studies at Yale University. Prior to joining the European Commission, he had been Professor of Economics and Rector at Bocconi.

Mauro Moretti is CEO of the Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane Group since September 2006; Chairman of CER (Community of European Railway and Infrastructure Companies) since January 2009; Vice President of UIC (Union International des Chemins de Fer) and Vice President of the European Management Committee of UIC. Mr Moretti has also held the position of President of CIFI (Italian Association of Railway Engineers) since 2004. In May 2010 he was decorated for his services to industry and awarded the title “Cavaliere del Lavoro” by the Italian President Giorgio Napolitano. He gained a degree in Electro-Technical Engineering from Bologna University in 1977 and, in the same year, he passed the public entrance exam for an executive position at the Azienda Autonoma Ferrovie dello Stato.

Giuseppe Orsi was appointed Chairman and CEO of Finmeccanica in 2011, having previously held the role of CEO of AgustaWestland, the leading helicopter company owned by Finmeccanica, from 2004 to 2011. Mr Orsi is a graduate of the Milan Polytechnic University where he earned a Doctorate Degree in Aeronautical Engineering. He served as an officer in the Italian Air Force and also qualified as a civil pilot. In addition, he attended an executive education program at The Wharton School. Over the years, Mr Orsi has held various roles at AgustaWestland and is recognised as having made a decisive contribution in bringing Agusta to a leading position within the international helicopter market and having played a significant part in the creation of AgustaWestland. During his time at AgustaWestland, the company saw significant growth in terms of order intake, deliveries and revenues. The company now employs 14,000 people worldwide. Mr Orsi is member of various international associations and he has been conferred with honours. In 2010, he was conferred the honour of "Commander of the British Empire" (CBE) by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II and he has been named “Freeman of the City of London” by the Lord Major of London. He is also a Fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society.

Corrado Passera graduated in Business Administration from Milan’s Bocconi University in 1988 and in 1980 he completed an MBA at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. Mr Passera began his professional career at McKinsey & Co. where he remained for five years. He then moved to the De Benedetti Group where over the following 11 years he covered various positions including Managing Director of CIR, Vice-Chairman of Credito Romagnolo, General Manager of Arnoldo Mondadori Editore, Vice-Chairman and CEO of Editoriale L’Espresso and co-CEO of Olivetti. In 1996 Mr Passera was selected by Giovanni Caroli to manage Banco Ambroveneto and to lead the first important aggregation process of the Italian banking sector – the merger with Cariplo – which resulted in Banca Intesa. In 1998, upon request of Carlo Azeglio Ciampi and Antonio Maccanico – at that time Minister of the Treasury and Telecommunications respectively – he joined the Italian postal system (Poste Italiane) as CEO. Within four years, he fully restructed the company, establishing European standard quality levels in the postal services and relaunching the financial services business. In 2002 he went back to Banca Intesa as CEO, holding the position after the merger with Sanpaolo IMI, when it became Intesa Sanpaolo.

Alessandro Profumo holds a degree in Business Economics from the Bocconi Business University. Mr Profumo began his career at Banco Lariano, where he worked from 1977 to 1987. In December 1987 he joined McKinsey & Company where he was in charge of the strategic and organisational projects for financial companies. Two years later, having joined Bain, Cuneo & Associati, he was put in charge of developing relations with financial institutions. In 1991 he left the field of company consultancy to join RAS (Riunione Adriatica di Sicurtà), where he was given responsibility, as General Manager, for the banking and parabanking sectors. He was also in charge of the yield increase of that company’s bank and of the other group companies operating in the field of asset management. Three years later, in 1994, he joined Credito Italiano where he was appointed Deputy General Manager and put in charge of Planning & Group Control. A year later he was appointed Chief General Manager. His appointment to CEO came in 1997 and was maintained until 2010. During this period the business was transformed from a domestic bank (15.000 employees – 100% of revenues within Italian boundaries) to a European leading player (162.000 employees – branches in 23 countries – only 36% of revenues within Italian boundaries). Currently Mr Profumo is the Chairman of his own consultancy firm Appeal Strategy & Finance and is also Member of Eni Board of Directors and of Sberbank Supervisory Board. In 2012 he was nominated by Commissioner Michel Barnier to become member of the High-level Expert Group in Brussels on reforming the structure of the EU banking sector. In the same period he joined the International Advisory Board of Itaú Unibanco (Brazil). In 2012 Mr Profumo was appointed President of Monte dei Paschi di Siena Bank. He is also member of Bocconi University’s Board of Directors and of TOG Foundation’s “Together to go”.

Francesco Profumo was born in Savona, Italy, in 1953. Since November 2011 he has been serving as Italian Minister of Education, University and Research. He graduated in Electrical Engineering from the Politecnico di Torino, Italy, in 1977. Since 1978 to 1984, he worked as Senior Engineer for the R&D Ansaldo Group in Genova (Italy). Professor of Electrical Machines and Drives at the Politecnico di Torino and Adjunct Professor at the University of Bologna, he worked also as Visiting Professor in US, Japan, Czech Republic and Argentina. Being elected as Rector of the Politecnico in 2005, he then became President of CNR (National Research Council). In 2009 he was the Chairman of the G8 University Summit in Italy. Now he is President of the Columbus Association (Association of 55 Latin American and European Universities), and member of the Academy of Science in Italy and of the Academia Europaea - Physics and Engineering Section.

Andrea Ragnetti has been CEO of Alitalia – Compagnia Aerea Italiana S.p.A – since March 2012. After graduating in Political Science at Perugia University, Mr Ragnetti began working at Procter & Gamble, initially in Rome and then in Lisbon, where he remained until 1993, before starting work with Benckiser in Paris. In 1998, he entered Telecom Italia as Chief Marketing Officer. In January 2003, he became Chief Marketing Officer of Philips, with responsibility for all Philips' marketing and branding activities worldwide. In April 2005, he was named CEO of Philips Domestic Appliances and Personal Care, a company with 10,000 employees and a turnover of €3bn. In April 2006, he also became a member of the Board of Directors. In 2007, he was named Chairman and CEO of Philips Consumer Lifestyle, one of the three sectors into which the Dutch company is organised, with a turnover of nearly €10bn and 25,000 employees. He covered this position until September 2010. In February 2012, Mr Ragnetti joined Alitalia as General Manager and in March he was appointed CEO.

Andrea Romano is Professor of Contemporary History at the University of Roma Tor Vergata and Director of the think tank Italia Futura. Prof Romano has published books and articles on the history of European socialism, the Italian centre-left and the present political situation in Italy.

Giuseppe Sala has a degree in Business Administration from the Bocconi University in Milan. Mr Sala began his career in 1983 in Pirelli, becoming CFO of Pirelli Tyre in 1998 and subsequently Senior Vice President of Operations in Pirelli Tyre. In 2001 he was nominated CFO of Telecom Italia Mobile and in 2003 he became Assistant to the President of the Telecom Italia Group. He was later appointed Director General of Telecom Italia. In 2009 he became Director General of the Milan City Council. As of July 2010, Mr Sala is the CEO of Expo 2015 S.p.A., a limited company owned by the Central Government and the Local Authorities which was established in order to organise, construct and manage Expo Milano 2015, the Universal Exposition to be held in Milan from 1 May to 31 October 2015. He is also member of the Board of the utility company A2A S.p.A. From February to May 2012 he was President of the A2A multi-utility company.

Antonio Tajani currently holds the position of Vice-President of the European Commission, in charge of Industry and Entrepreneurship. Mr Tajani started his career as Officer of the Italian Air Force and, after a period dedicated to journalism, he decided to begin his political career. He started as the spokesman for the President of the Italian Council of Ministers during the first Berlusconi Government, and he was selected as chairman of the delegation of Forza Italia to the European Parliament from June 1999 until May 2008. Mr Tajani has a very long history of European parliamentary activity that began when he was elected MEP in 1994. He was later re-elected twice, in 1999 and 2004. He was voted as Vice-Chair of the European People's Party four times, at the EPP Congress of Estoril (2002), Rome (2006), Bonn (2009) and Bucharest (2012). He finally became Vice-President and Commissioner in charge of Transport in 2008 (Barroso I) and was appointed again in 2010 (Barroso II) to his current position.

John Thornhill has been the Deputy Editor at the Financial Times since September 2012. He was appointed Financial Times’ News Editor, based in London on the main news desk, in January 2009. Prior to this he spent four years in Paris as the Editor of the European edition of the Financial Times, responsible for European coverage both in print and online. Joining the FT in 1988 as a graduate trainee, Mr Thornhill has been the Paris Bureau Chief, World News Editor, Asia Editor, Moscow Bureau Chief and a Lex columnist. He has filed reports from 36 countries and interviewed 12 heads of state or government, including Vladimir Putin, Nicholas Sarkozy, Junichiro Koizumi, and Lee Kuan Yew. Mr Thornhill has a MSc in Soviet politics from the London School of Economics and an MA in Ancient and Modern History from Magdalen College, Oxford University.