Paolo Ponzano obtained a political science degree in 1967. From 1969 to 1970, he worked as both a university assistant in International Law and as member of the International Affairs Institute. Then, from 1971 to 2009, Ponzano served as a civil servant for the European Commission. Most of his career took place in the Secretariat-General of the Commission, where he was Director of Relations with the Council of Ministers. From 1995 to 2001, he also represented the Commission in the Committee of Permanent Representatives (COREPER). After this, Ponzano served as the Director for Institutional Affairs and “Better Regulation”. In 2002 and 2003, Ponzano served as an alternate member of the European Convention. Currently, Ponzano is the Special Adviser of the Vice-President of the European Commission, Maros Sefcovic, and a Senior Fellow for the European University Institute in Florence. He has taught European Union Institutional Law and European Union Governance in many universities and he has written several articles on European Union institutional questions and on the European Union decision process.