Günter Verheugen, born April 28, 1944, has a long career with more than 40 years in politics. In that time he has held a number of high-level advisory and governmental positions. Günter Verheugen was a member of the European Commission, responsible for enlargement between 1999 and 2004. In his second term, from 2004 to 2010 he served as Vice-President in charge of enterprise and industry and in this capacity he was the European chairperson of the Transatlantic Economic Council. Prior to this he was a prominent member of the German parliament for 16 years. His parliamentary career saw him play leading roles in the Foreign Affairs and European Union Special committees while he was also a Federal Party Manager and Minister of State in the Federal Foreign Office. Günter Verheugen is Honorary Professor of the Viadrina University in Frankfurt/Oder. He was appointed as Director of the Goerdeler College for good governance in 2012. In 2016 he became President of the Senate of Economy Europe. He is editor but also author of a number of books, essays and articles.