Michel Petite (Chair) is director general of the Legal Services Department of the European Commission (EC) in Brussels, a position he has held since June 2001. From 1999 to 2001, Mr. Petite was chief advisor, and then head of the cabinet for Roman Prodi, President of the European Commission. From 1998 to 1999, he served the Commission in the Directorate General for Competition as director of state aids. From 1997 to 1998, he was a visiting professor at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where he served during a sabbatical from the EC. Previous to his sabbatical, from 1991 to 1995, Mr. Petite served as legal advisor to Jacques Delors, President of the European Commission. In 1985 Mr. Petite entered the cabinet of Commissioner Lord Cockfield, where he was in charge of the Internal Market Program, including the suppression of border controls within European Union member states. In 1988, he became deputy head of the cabinet of Commissioner Scrivener, where he was responsible for VAT (value added tax) harmonization. From 1979 to 1984, Mr. Petite was in charge of company law and accounting harmonization in the European Union. Mr. Petite holds a law degree from Paris University, and has been a Faculty member of numerous Salzburg Seminar sessions, including Session 375, European Paradox: Integration or Disintegration? in 2000.