The Judges

The European Business Awards is privileged to have the voluntary services of distinguished business experts who serve as our judges. Each panel will include different nationalities and, whilst all presentations need to be made in English, the judges will be well-versed in the cultural aspects of each of the finalist's countries.

The Judges, who are invited due to their experience, business acumen and expertise, are fully independent and therefore provide the programme with its rigor and robustness.

The judges receive no personal or financial benefit from their participation other than experiencing at first hand the success stories of all the finalists and the opportunity to encourage and promote the highest standard in business.

The 2008 judging panels:

The CMS Business of the Year Award

• Robert Derry-Evans (CMS Executive Partner) UNITED KINGDOM
• Mathew Carenzo (Managing Director of the IESE  Center for Entrepreneurship) SPAIN
• President Petar Stoyanov (former President of Bulgaria) BULGARIA
• Peter Fagernäs (Chairman of the Board of Fortum Ltd) FINLAND

The Business Innovation of the Year Award

• Rolandas Barysas (CEO and Editor in chief of Verslo žinios ) LITHUANIA
• Professor Tom Thomas (ICM's Chief Executive) UNITED KINGDOM
• Attila Várkonyi (Non-Exec Chairman of Hungary’s Research, Technology and Innovation Council) HUNGARY
• Professor Niels Bjørn- Anderson ( Vice-Dean Copenhagen Business School) DENMARK

The Atradius Growth Strategy of the Year Award

• Gastons Neimanis (Chairman of the board Dienas Bizness) LATVIA
• Professor Witold M Orlowski (former Chief Economic Advisor to the President of Poland) POLAND
• Goran Radman (Managing Director SEEurope MICROSOFT) CROATIA
• Dr. Oliver Christ ( Director of SAP Research Switzerland) GERMANY

The Société Générale Award for Customer Focus

• Christian Celin ( Regional Head of Central and Eastern Europe, Central Asia, Middle East and Africa at Société Générale’s Corporate and Investment Banking ) FRANCE
• Philippe Rossiter (CEO Institute of Hospitality (HCIMA)) UNITED KINGDOM
• David Parsons ( Chief Executive Institute of Customer Service) UNITED KINGDOM
• Gabriele Capolino (Editor and Associate Publisher of MF-Milano Finanza) ITALY
• Eloïc-Anil Peyrache ( Director of the Development of HEC School of Management) FRANCE

The RSM Entrepreneur of the Year Award

• Marie-Christine Lombard (Group Managing Director TNT Express) FRANCE
• Dr Christian Vintergaard (Managing Director of Øresund Entrepreneurship Academy) DENMARK
• President Emil Constantinescu (President of Romania 1996 – 2000) ROMANIA
• Jean-Paul Votron (CEO Fortis) BELGIUM
• Jean Stephens (Chief Executive RSM) USA

The Award for Corporate Sustainability

• Maria Sishkova (Chairman Bulgarian Business Leaders Forum) BULGARIA
• Aleksander Bratina (Technical and Development Director of Dnevnik) SLOVENIA
• Professor Gilbert Lenssen ( President European Academy for Business in Society - EABIS) BELGIUM