Phedon Nicolaides is a professor at the University of Maastricht and at the University of Nicosia. He is also a visiting professor at the College of Europe and LUISS University in Rome. Professor Phedon Nicolaides has been educated in the United States, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. He has a Ph.D. in economics and a PhD in law. He has previously held academic positions at the London Business School, the Royal Institute of International Affairs (London) and the European Institute of Public Administration (Maastricht). He has also served as Minister Plenipotentiary in the Cyprus Ministry of Foreign Affairs and in the private sector as Secretary General of the Cyprus Shipping Council. During the negotiations of Cyprus for accession to the EU he was advisor to the Cyprus Chief Negotiator. He has acted as consultant to a number of public authorities in various EU Member States and to international institutions and organisations such as the European Commission, the European Investment Fund, the European Economic and Social Committee, the OECD and the UN. He has published extensively on European integration, competition policy and state aid, and policy implementation. He is also on the editorial boards of several journals.