Ricardo de Borges Castro

Associate Director and Head of Europe in the World Programme, European Policy Centre

Ricardo Borges de Castro is Associate Director and Head of Europe in the World Programme at the European Policy Centre, an independent, not-for-profit, Brussels-based think tank.  With expertise in strategic foresight, planning and policymaking at national and European levels, Ricardo’s research interests focus mainly on geopolitics, the EU’s international role and the future of Europe, democratisation, transatlantic relations, global trends, and scenario building. He is also the editor of a new flagship publication: the yearly ‘EPC Outlook Paper.’

Besides his analytical work, Ricardo is also a regular commentator and contributor on global and European affairs in several media outlets including CNN Portugal, SIC Notícias France24, Euronews, YLE, L’Express, Euractiv, Público and Expresso. He tweets @ricbdc. Before joining the EPC, Ricardo was foresight lead at the European Political Strategy Centre (EPSC), the European Commission’s in-house think tank under President Jean-Claude Juncker. Previously, Ricardo was Member of Cabinet and Personal Assistant to José Manuel Barroso, President of the European Commission, as well as spokesperson for ‘Europe and the World’ at the Commission’s Spokespersons’ Planning and Coordination Unit. In Portugal, Ricardo served in the Prime Minister’s Office as political adviser to the Prime Minister after spending four years in the Portuguese Parliament as policy advisor for foreign affairs, national defence and East Timor.

Ricardo is also an Associate Fellow, Global Fellowship Initiative, at the Geneva Centre for Security Policy and a Member of the OECD Government Foresight Community. He holds a Master of Arts (MALD) from The Fletcher School and a DPhil (PhD) in International Relations from the University of Oxford (St Antony’s College).