Tassos Belessiotis

Tassos Belessiotis is an Economic Adviser in the Bureau of European Policy Advisers of the European Commission of the European Union. After completing his Diploma in Economics and Political Science at the University of Athens, he received an M.A. in Economics from the School of Economic Studies of the University of Leeds in the UK and a Ph.D. in Economics from McMaster University in Canada. After working for several years as an economist for the Ontario and Canadian Federal governments, he joined the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Economic and Financial Affairs.

Within the Commission, he has served as a principal administrator and economist in the national economies directorate and, subsequently, the directorate for the evaluation and surveillance of budgetary and economic policy, deputy head of unit of the national economies directorate, head of unit in the Resources Directorate of the Directorate-General for Budget, and head of unit in the Enterprise Policy Directorate of the Directorate General for Enterprise. An Economic Adviser in the Bureau of European Policy Advisers for the past five years, he has been responsible for preparing studies on the EU’s competitiveness, the on-going enlargement process and, most recently, the economic and financial crisis in Europe.