Wolfgang Petzold is head of unit in the communication department of the Committee of the Regions, the European Union's assembly of regional and local representatives in Brussels, since 2008. Prior to that, he worked for the European Commission's Regional Policy DG and before that was seconded national expert with the Employment and Social Affairs DG. Earlier in his career, he was deputy head of unit with the regional ministry for European and economic affairs. Mr. Petzold is member the German branch of the EU Studies Association, the Regional Studies Association and of the editorial board of the journal European Structural and Investment Funds. He lectured at universities in Bruges, Osnabrück and Tübingen. Since 1999, he is lecturer on EU institutions, policy-making and regions at the University of Applied Sciences in Austria. Mr. Petzold is author of several books and articles on EU cohesion policy and European affairs. He holds a degree in sociology from University of Bremen.