Advisory Board

Ahead of this year's EU Days, a senior advisory group has been set up. It consists of four people who can contribute their experience and knowledge during the planning stage and help the forum continue to develop. Here we present the four members of the advisory group.

The advisory board consists of Katarina Areskoug Mascarenhas, Lars Danielsson, Lena Ek and Magnus Schöldtz.

Katarina Areskoug Mascarenhas

Katarina Areskoug Mascarenhas is the founder of the analysis company Impact Europe, which specialises in EU consulting and analysis. She has a extensive experience in EU affairs having served as Head of the European Commission in Sweden from 2015 to 2020 and as State Secretary for EU and International Affairs to the Prime Minister from 2010 to 2014. Prior to that Katarina Areskoug Mascarenhas spent many years working at the Permanent Representation of Sweden to the EU in Brussels and the European Commission. As a representative of the Commission's Representation in Sweden, Katarina Areskoug Mascarenhas was one of the initiators of EU Days Lund, and currently serves as the Chair of the board for the Centre for European Research at Lund University, where she also holds a Bachelor's degree in International Economics.

Lars Danielsson

Lars Danielsson is a diplomat and former State Secretary with over 40 years of experience in the civil service. His diplomatic career has taken him to New York, Geneva, and Beijing, among other places. Nationally, Lars Danielsson has extensive experience from the Government Offices and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs serving as State Secretary and foreign policy advisor to two Prime Ministers. Lars Danielsson has also been the Swedish ambassador in Seoul, South Korea, and Berlin, Germany, as well as the Permanent Representative at the Swedish Representation to the European Union in Brussels. Today, Lars Danielsson is a senior consultant at Lumo Advice, where he continues to focus on EU politics.

Lena Ek

Lena Ek has had a long political career, including serving as a Member of the European Parliament from 2004 to 2011 and Sweden's Minister for the Environment from 2011to 2014. She was elected to the Swedish Parliament in 1998 and has served for more than five years on the Finance Committee and as Deputy Chair of the Environment and Agriculture Committee. Lena Ek holds a Master of Laws degree from Lund University and has been awarded an honorary doctorate from the Faculty of Engineering, Lund University. Today, Lena Ek is the Chair of the Board for Länsförsäkringar Östgöta and a special investigator for a national bioeconomy strategy.

Magnus Schöldtz

Magnus Schöldtz is a former ambassador who has held numerous diplomatic assignments in the EU, NATO and the Middle East. He has also served with the UN in Lebanon and Somalia as well as at the Swedish Armed Forces Headquarters. Today Magnus is a senior advisor at the Wallenberg Foundations and active in several boards and advisory bodies, including the Board of Sweden for the UNHCR and Business Sweden. He has also been appointed as the Chair of the Nordic Pavilion at the World Expo 2025 in Osaka.