Sandra Parthie, Head of Brussels Office/ Head of European Affairs of the German Economic Institute (IW Köln) and President of the EESC’s Employers’ Group. Sandra studied political sciences and economics at the Freie Universität in Berlin, Germany and the Université de Montréal, Canada. Since March 2015 she leads the Brussels Liaison office for private German economic think tank ‘IW’ (Institut der deutschen Wirtschaft/ German Economic Institute) focusing on the EU’s economic policies. Prior to that she worked as EU Regulatory Affairs Director for French multinational company Alstom and as Head of office and political advisor to a Member of the European Parliament.