Biography
Inge Bernaerts is Director in the European Commission’s competition department (DG Competition - Directorate E, Markets and Cases IV, Basic industries, Manufacturing and Agriculture). In that capacity she supervises five units, with around 100 staff members, who enforce EU antitrust, merger control and State aid rules in a wide range of economic sectors, from the production and processing of raw materials, semi-finished goods, chemicals, pharmaceuticals and machineries, to finished durable goods and fast moving consumer goods. Inge is also responsible for related policy initiatives, such as the ongoing review of the motor vehicle block exemption and the strategic dialogue with Member States on state aid in defence.
Previously, Inge held senior management positions as Director for Policy and Strategy in DG Competition and as Head of Cabinet to Commissioner Marianne Thyssen, Commissioner for Employment and Social Affairs in the Juncker Commission. She also held middle management and case handling positions in both DG Competition and DG Energy earlier in her career.
Before joining the European Commission in 2003, Inge practiced competition law at the Brussels bar and she lectured European law seminars at the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven. Inge engages frequently in the public debate on competition law and EU policy more broadly. She holds a law degree from the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (summa cum laude) and a post-graduate degree in European law from the Universität Saarbrucken (magna cum laude). She is married and has two sons.