Thomas Berbach is deputy head of Unit 5A in charge of industrial products at DGCCRF (the French market surveillance authority responsible for consumer protection). He is in charge of coordinating the DGCCRF inspection network implementing the General product safety directive and various European harmonized product legislations applicable to consumer products.

With a degree in history and in political science from the University and the Institut d’études politiques (IEP) of Strasbourg, he entered civil service with the French Ministry of economy and finance in Paris in 2003, in charge of internal organization and administrative simplifications within the ministry’s general secretariat. He has been appointed to DGCCRF headquarters in 2006 as a policy officer initially responsible for the vehicles sector, and has specialized in the last ten years in all horizontal non-food product safety issues.

Besides the implementation of EU product safety legislation, his main area of focus includes the DGCCRF product compliance scheme, the monitoring of product safety levels in e-commerce and the improvement of the response to this challenge of all economic operators involved in the related supply chains, including electronic marketplaces, fulfillment services and “responsible persons”.

Els Bruggeman is Head of Policy and Enforcement at Euroconsumers, a leading consumer cluster that gathers five national consumer organisations: Test Achats (Belgium), Altroconsumo (Italy), OCU (Spain), Deco Proteste (Porugal) and Proteste (Brazil).

Together they represent almost one and a half million consumers. Based at Test Achats, Els is responsible for the coordination of all policy related issues, with a specific focus on digital and sustainability, and the joint enforcement cases, e.g. the class actions against Volkswagen (Dieselgate) and Apple (premature obsolescence) that were launched in Belgium, Italy, Spain and Portugal.

Els joined the consumer movement in 2014 when she started working as EU Public Affairs advisor for the Belgian consumer organisation Test Achats/Test Aankoop. Before she was active for more than 10 years in the political world, both as policy advisor and spokesperson i.a. for the Belgian minister of consumer protection.

Els Bruggeman has master degrees in both History and Law, and advanced masters in International Politics and Conflict & Development Studies. She is a member of the Executive Board of BEUC, the European Consumer Organisation.

Thyme is a policy analyst within the Organisation for Economic Co-operation & Development’s (OECD) Science, Technology & Innovation Directorate where she works on consumer protection and product safety issues relating to the digital economy. Her work focuses on e-commerce and new technologies, including artificial intelligence and the internet of things, as well as how consumer behavioural insights can inform better consumer policy and product recall design.

Prior to joining the OECD, Thyme was a senior lawyer at the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission where she practiced across all areas of competition and consumer law.