Prof. Antonios Nestoras is a recognised EU thinker at the crossroads of security, technology, and industrial strategy, with nearly two decades of experience in academia, think tanks, and public administration. He is the Founding Director of the European Policy Innovation Council (EPIC), a Brussels-based think tank advancing policy innovation for a competitive and sustainable Europe. He holds a double PhD in Social and Political Science from the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB) and the University of Antwerp, and was awarded the Huygens Scholarship for International Talent for his graduate studies at the University of Leiden. He also serves as an adjunct professor at the Brussels School of Governance at VUB, where he teaches geopolitics and technopolitics.
Nestoras has authored or edited more than 40 publications, including "Renewing Europe: A How-To Guide for EU Policymakers" and "Belonging to the West: Geopolitical Myths and Identity in Modern Greece." He also serves as Founder and Chief Editor of the Future Europe Journal, a platform for forward-looking ideas on European integration. His work has been featured in outlets such as the Financial Times, Politico, Euronews, and Euractiv.
In 2025, under his leadership, EPIC launched the Draghi Observatory & Implementation Index — an accountability tool designed to monitor the implementation of Mario Draghi's 2024 Report on the Future of European Competitiveness. The Observatory's first audit, presented at the European Parliament in September 2025, found that only 11.2 percent of the report's 383 recommendations had been fully implemented, with most still pending or only partially addressed.