Irene Vlachaki joined the European Commission in 2011 as an economic analyst and is part of DG Economic and Financial Affairs’ team in Athens. Irene is a Greek national and holds a PhD in economics from the Athens University of Economics and Business. During her career as an economist at the Commission she has been responsible for monitoring the economy of France, she has followed labour market and social policies with a focus on the Baltic counties, and she has dealt with European Neighbourhood Policy issues and EU Macrofinancial Assistance operations to Middle East and North Africa countries. She joined ECFIN’s team in Athens in January 2019 and is in charge of labour market and social issues. Before entering the Commission, she worked as an economist in the Greek public administration and was Adjunct Lecturer of macroeconomics at the Athens University of Economics and Business.