Garlich is German and studied Agriculture and Economics at the University of Göttingen. He started his professional career in the European Commission’s DG Agriculture before graduating in Administrative and Political Sciences from the College of Europe. Before joining the seed industry in 1999, he worked in the European Parliament in agricultural and structural policy, specifically on the EU’s R&D policy and funding instruments. Joining ESA as Director Public Affairs, he became Secretary General in 2004.
In ESA, Garlich takes responsibility for the overall management of the association and its staff, the development of strategic policy campaigns on ESA’s priority issues and the positioning of Europe’s seed industry vis-à-vis EU and international bodies and decision makers.

Szonja is Hungarian and holds a degree in Law from ELTE Budapest University, an MA in French and European Law from Panthéon-Assas University (Paris) and an L.LM. in IP and Competition Law from the University of Liège. Before joining ESA she worked at the Budapest office of the French law firm Gide Loyrette Nouel and at the European Commission. In 2009 she became ESA’s Intellectual Property and Legal Affairs Director.
Within ESA Szonja is primarily responsible for issues related to intellectual property protection and plant genetic resources and also handles all seed legislation related legal questions. She represents ESA towards relevant international organizations, European Institutions as well as the Community Plant Variety Office. 

Christophe is French and studied plant breeding and seed technology at Ecole Superieure d’Agriculture d’Angers in France and University of applied sciences of Dronten in the Netherlands.

He worked for more than 12 years for the “Service Officiel de Controle et de certification (SOC)”, the French national authority performing official controls to ensure among others varietal purity, germination, health status of seeds.

In October 2016 he joined ESA as Technical Manager Plant Health and Seed Trade.

Amalia is Greek and graduated from Wageningen University in the Netherlands with a double MSc in Plant Science and Food Safety & Food Quality Management. She also holds an MSc in Plant Protection from the Agricultural University of Athens. Amalia worked as auditor for the certification of products of Protected Designation of Origin and Protected Geographical Indication and has been part of research projects of the European Food Safety Authority and the Catholic University of Italy. Before joining ESA, Amalia worked with a think tank on a comprehensive bee health report which was published in early 2013.
In ESA, Amalia is responsible for the implementation and management of ESTA, the European Seed Treatment Assurance scheme and for all ESA Working Groups in the area of seed treatment and crop protection.

Valentina is Italian and holds an MA in International Relations. Since 2008 she has been working as Communications Coordinator in a number of European organisations in Strasbourg and Brussels, including the Italian Permanent Representation and European Schoolnet.

Valentina joined ESA in January 2016  and is responsible for internal communication to members and external communication strategies to enhance ESA visibility and outreach towards relevant decision-makers, journalists and third parties with a specific focus on social media. In addition she also takes responsibility for the coordination of events including the ESA Annual Meeting.

Petra Jorasch is German and holds a PhD in plant molecular biology from the University of Hamburg in 1999. In 2000 she became IP Expert at GFPi Service Ltd., a company which supports the German breeding industry in questions of IP and technology transfer. Since 2014 she was Vice Secretary General of the German Plant Breeders’ Association (BDP).  During her career she developed solid experience in biotech patent law and plant variety as well as in regulatory issues concerning modern plant breeding methods.

Petra joined ESA in February 2017 as the spokesperson of the EU plant breeding sector on modern plant breeding methods and innovative technologies. Petra is also in charge of the ESA Working Group Biotechnology.

Marguerite is Irish and studied Business Administration in Ireland. She started her career in office management and assistance in a Brussels based policy consultancy and has also worked as a finance assistant in a European communication agency. Before joining ESA in 2001, Marguerite worked as an administrator within the European Commission.
 In ESA she is responsible for the arrangement and coordination of meetings, travel and events. Marguerite is also in charge of general office management and assists in the association’s accountancy and auditing.

Alexandra is Romanian and studied International Relations and Project Management in Romania, France and Belgium. Throughout her studies, she volunteered in several youth projects in Eastern Europe and the South Caucasus. She started her professional career in the European Commission’s DG International Development and Cooperation (DG DEVCO). Afterwards, she worked with the European Parliament, in Brussels.

Beside her native Romanian, she is fluent in English and French and has an intermediate level of Italian and Russian.

Within ESA, Alexandra is offering support on communications and administration tasks.