Mr. Panayiotis Elia serves as Employment and Social Affairs Attaché at the Permanent Representation of the Republic of Cyprus to the European Union. In this capacity, he is responsible for social protection and social security coordination, with particular focus on the implementation of EU Regulations 883/2004 and 987/2009. A member of the Cyprus Bar Association, he holds two LLM Masters, in Labour Law and Industrial Relations, and in Commercial Law, and is pursuing a PhD on pension reform in Cyprus, Greece, Ireland, and Portugal in the context of the Economic and Financial Policy Memoranda. Before joining the Cypriot Representation, he worked for a Brussels-based advocacy organisation representing social protection institutions, where he led policy and advocacy activities on issues such as the IORP II Directive, the coordination of social security systems, and the adequacy and financial sustainability of pensions. He has also practiced law and worked in the consulting sector. His professional experience includes close collaboration with EU institutions such as DG EMPL, DG FISMA, DG ECFIN, EIOPA, and the European Labour Authority (ELA).

Dr. Fotini Marini is an international expert in social security law and policy, acting currently as the Head of the Social Welfare and Inclusion Hub in the Social Administration Research Lab at the University of West Attica in Athens. She has undertaken research and teaching assignments at the University of West Attica, the Nicosia University, the Athens University of Applied Sciences, the Athens National School of Public Administration, and the Hellenic National Centre for Social Research in areas relating to EU and comparative employment, health, social security, social welfare and inclusion policies. She practices law since 1998 (member of the Athens Bar Association) and, since 2002, she has been providing research and consultancy services both to central administration services and local authorities in the context of high-level policy and research projects in Greece, Cyprus and the Balkan region (sectors: employment, social security, social welfare, health and social care, inclusion, asylum/migration, social entrepreneurship, local administration and social innovation). She is author and co-author of eight books and has published in international edited books and journals.