Round Table with EU Commissioner Costas Kadis Friday, 12 June 2026, 11:00 to 12:00 Berlaymont Building, European Commission, Brussels
On Friday 12 June 2026, A Seat At The Table will host an exclusive Round Table at the Berlaymont with Costas Kadis, European Commissioner for Fisheries and Oceans. Fifteen of our young talents will sit down with the Commissioner for a 60-minute closed-door conversation on one of the defining strategic files of this Commission’s mandate.
Who is Commissioner Kadis? A biologist by training and Professor of Biodiversity Conservation at Frederick University in Cyprus, Costas Kadis brings a rare combination of scientific depth and political seniority to Brussels. Before taking office on 1 December 2024, he served the Republic of Cyprus as Minister of Agriculture, Rural Development and Environment, Minister of Education and Culture, and Minister of Health. He also led the Greek Cypriot Technical Committee on the Environment in the island’s reunification talks — a profile that combines hard science, governance, and diplomacy.
What does he do? As Commissioner for Fisheries and Oceans in the second von der Leyen Commission, Kadis leads one of the EU’s most ambitious new frameworks: the European Ocean Pact, adopted in June 2025 and backed by a €1 billion envelope. The Pact lays the foundations for what the Commission calls an Ocean Union — a single, coordinated framework that brings together EU policies on ocean health, the blue economy, coastal communities, research and innovation, maritime security, and ocean diplomacy. An Ocean Act is set to follow in 2027.
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