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.

César is Spanish and studied agricultural engineering at the Technical Universities of Catalonia and Madrid. He started his career as researcher on crop sustainability at ETSIA Madrid and, since then, he has been involved in agricultural and rural development policies at Spanish and European level.Before joining the European Seed Association (ESA), César was senior policy advisor on phytosanitary questions at the organisation representing European farmers and agri-cooperatives.César joined ESA in September 2018 and is responsible for developing and implementing outreach and advocacy strategies on seed industry related policy and regulatory issues, specifically towards the EU institutions and key agri-food chain organisations. He also specifically works on research and innovation programmes and projects, managing the respective dedicated ESA Working Group and representing ESA in the ‘Plants for the Future’ technology platform.

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 Plant Breeding Innovation.

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. 

Ewa Józefowicz is Polish and graduated from the Department of English Philology (M.A.) in Wroclaw University (WSF). She has worked for a number of years for the Seed Agency in Poland (Agencja Nasienna) as the Manager of Foreign Affairs. It included cooperating with the European Commission as part of the TAIEX programme (Technical Assistance and Information Exchange Instrument of the EC supporting public administrations with regard to the approximation, application and enforcement of EU legislation) and conducting numerous workshops for the Ministries of Agriculture and other official institutions in Serbia, Romania and Moldova in the field of PVP, PBRs and IP. 

Within ESA, Ewa works as Communications and Administration Assistant and specifically supports the management and implementation of ESA’s communication related activities.

Catherine Chepkurui Langat is Kenyan and holds a Master’s in Plant Breeding from UniLaSalle, France with exchange programs in Ghent University, Belgium & Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU), Sweden following a first degree in Seed Science & Technology from Moi University, Kenya.

Catherine previously served in the Kenya Plant Health Inspectorate Service (KEPHIS) with specific roles in quality assurance including plant variety protection, seed certification and phytosanitary inspection. She has received an exposure on the global seed industry having been under trainee-ship with the International Seed Federation (ISF); participated in international conferences, online courses and meetings in various organizations like the International Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants (UPOV) as well as plant genetic resources management training in India.

She joins ESA as a Technical Manager Plant Breeding and Variety registration.