Mario Monti

President of Bocconi University

Mario Monti is president of Bocconi University, Milan, and honorary president of Bruegel, the European think-tank he 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).

As the EU-appointed coordinator for the electricity interconnection between France and Spain, he brokered an agreement between the two heads of governments in June 2008. He was a member of the Attali Committee on French economic growth, set up by President Sarkozy (2007-2008).

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 (e.g. GE/Honeywell, Microsoft, the German Landesbanken), he introduced radical modernization reforms of EU antitrust and merger control and led, with the US authorities, the creation of the International Competition Network (ICN).

Born in Varese, Italy, in 1943, he 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.