Paul Schmidt has been Secretary General of the Austrian Society for European Politics since 2009. Previously, he has worked at the Oesterreichische Nationalbank, both in Vienna and at their Representative Office in Brussels. He studied International Relations and Political Science at universities in Austria, Spain and USA and holds a diploma from the Diplomatic Academy of Vienna. His current work mainly focuses on the analysis and discussion of current issues regarding European integration. Paul’s comments and op-eds are regularly published in the Austrian and international media. He is member of the European Movement in Austria and member of the advisory board of “InvigoratEU” (Invigorating Enlargement and Neighbourhood Policy for a Resilient Europe), a Horizon Europe project coordinated by the University of Duisburg-Essen (2024 – 2026). From 2020 to 2023 he was coordinator of the Erasmus+ Jean Monnet Networks Project “Europeanisation meets democracy from below: The Western Balkans on the search for new European and democratic Momentum (WB2EU)”. Paul Schmidt is co-editor of the book series “The Future of Europe: views from the Capitals”, a project initiated by TEPSA.