With European Studies from Chemnitz via Brussels to Berlin

2002-2006 Jiří Zapletal studied European Studies specializing in Economics at TU Chemnitz and has been working since 2013 at the Federal Ministry of Finance

From 2002 until 2006, Jiří Zapletal, who comes from Ore Mointains (Erzgebirge) studied European Studies specializing in Economics at TU Chemnitz. He began his Master`s degree at the Institute for East-European Studies at the Freie Universität Berlin, and then moved to Brussels for professional reasons, where he graduated at the Institute for European Studies at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB).

During his Bachelor studies in Chemnitz, Jirí Zapletal has completed numerous internships and sniffed international air abroad in the offices of the Konrad-Adenauer-Foundation in Prague and in the European Parliament in Strasbourg/Brussels. He was a working student at the Sparkasse Erzgebirge in the Marketing/Corporate Communications Department. Moreover, Jirí Zapletal has been a student assistant at the Junior Professorship for European Management at TU Chemnitz. “In order to gain further professional experience, I have also collaborated in the EU project `Future in the service sector– Evaluation of quality standards in health care in Germany, the Czech Republic, Poland and Lower Austria´. My job involved a comparative evaluation of labor policy quality standards of the health care in these countries“, recalls Zapletal.

After working in Berlin as a relations officer for Banking Supervision, Savings Banks and the EU Policy, for German Savings Banks and Giro Association and in Brussels, where he was responsible for the EU representation of Sparkasse-relevant EU policies. Since November 2013 Zapletal works for the Federal Ministry of Finance in Berlin. “I am responsible for the international climate protection financing. Within the Federal Government, my main task is to pay attention to the effects of climate change policies in the context of the EU, the UN and the G7 and the G20 for the Federal Government budget. For this purpose I developed independent concepts and positions with the relevant participants within and outside the steering group“, said the 35-year-old and added: “My work is versatile. On one hand, it involves focusing on a specific field of specialization, and on the other hand offers a great deal of variety through the work in national and international environment, participation in meetings and conferences.“ In addition to his work at the Federal Ministry of Finance, Zapletal did his doctorate alongside his career at the VUB in Brussels in the field of EU competition policy in the financial sector, being part of the Research Cluster European Competition Economics and Policy as an associated staff. His research area is the application of EU bank aid during the financial crisis.

In June 2012 Zapletal came back to TU Chemnitz, but this time as a lecturer. He headed within the framework of the Jean-Monnet-Professorship at TU Chemnitz the main seminar called "The Current Economic and Financial Crisis in the EU". “I still have very good memories of my own years spent in Chemnitz while studying the European Studies: the small and high-quality study groups and closeness to the professors, who always have an open ear and create a good environment for every student. So, it is always a pleasure to come back to Chemnitz“, said Zapletal.

For more information about the European Studies and graduates, please visit the online portal http://www.europastudien.de.

(Author: Damaris Diener, Translation: Nataliia Boiko)

Katharina Thehos
28.08.2014

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