A CIRANO Associate Researcher and Fellow since 2012, Lucian Cernat is Head of Global Regulatory Cooperation and International Procurement Negotiations at the European Commission.

Holding a Ph.D. from the University of Manchester, Lucian Cernat has more than 20 years of experience in the trade policy field.

Lucian Cernat was the Chief Economist of the DG Trade of the European Commission from 2008 to 2020. Prior to that, he held various positions at the United Nations in Geneva dealing with trade and development issues. He has authored more than 20 publications on the development impact of trade policies, WTO negotiations, EU preferential market access, regional trade agreements, competition policy, corporate governance. Prior to his UN experience, he has been a trade diplomat with the Romanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and part of the negotiating team of bilateral FTAs with the EuroMed area and Baltic countries, preceding Romania's accession to the EU.