George Papaconstantinou, economist of Greek origin, president of the School of Transnational Governance (TSG), an institution that provides high-level teaching and training for the methods, knowledge, skills and practice of governance across state borders. Papaconstantinou is also the director of the TSG Executive Education Program. In collaboration with the EUI Robert Schuman Center for Advanced Studies, Professor Papaconstantinou is leading the “Transforming Global Governance” project.
Economist George Papaconstantinou holds a doctorate from the London School of Economics and a master's degree from New York University.
He was Minister of Finance in Greece and later Minister of Environment and Energy. He guided the implementation of a reform program on budgetary and revenue processes, market liberalization, listed corporations and the transition to clean energy and a green economy.
In the first part of his career, he worked as a senior economist at the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development in Paris (1988-1998). In 1998, he returned to Greece and was appointed adviser to the then Prime Minister on "information society" issues. Two years later, he was appointed Special Secretary for the "Information Society" at the Ministry of Economy and Finance (2000-2002). Between 2002 and 2004 he served as a member of the Council of Economic Advisers in the Ministry of Economy and Finance, as a member of the board of OTE (Hellenic Telecommunications Organization) and as a representative of Greece in the European Union Economic Policy Committee (EPC). . In 2003 he coordinated the "Lisbon Strategy" for economic and social reforms during the Greek EU Presidency. He was a member of the board of directors of the Institute for Strategic and Development Studies, PASOK think tank, from 2005 to 2008. Between 2003 and 2007, Papaconstantinou taught economics at the Department of Management Science and Technology at the University of Economics and Business. from Athens and advised the European Commission on research and the information society, participating in various international research projects.