Sarah Nelen - Commentator

Deputy Head of Cabinet of Executive Vice-President Frans Timmermans, European Commission

Sarah Nelen is Deputy Head of Cabinet of Executive Vice-President Frans Timmermans responsible for the Green Deal, the EU’s growth strategy to become the world’s first climate-neutral continent by 2050.
Sarah has almost 20-year experience in European policy making, mainly in the areas of sustainability and justice and home affairs.
Before joining this Cabinet, she was Head of Unit in the European Commission's Environment Department where she was responsible for waste management & secondary materials and negotiated the EU’s single use plastic legislation.
She already worked for Frans Timmermans before, advising him on the circular economy, sustainable development and gender equality. From 2010 to 2014, she was part of the team of the first permanent President of the European Council, Mr Herman Van Rompuy where she was “Antici”, coordinated relations with the Commission and was in charge of the President’s strategic agenda management.
Before joining the European Commission in 2001, she was a researcher at the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven where she obtained previously a Masters in Political Science. She also studied at the Facultés Universitaires Saint Louis in Brussels, the University of Leicester and she is a College of Europe alumnus.