Gijs de Vries, born in 1956 in New York, was, among other things, Group Leader of the Liberal Democrats in the EU Parliament, Deputy Minister of the Interior of the Netherlands (1998-2002) and EU Anti-Terrorism Coordinator (2004-2007). De Vries is co-founder of the European Council on Foreign Relations and the Transatlantic Policy Network. His recent publications include “To Make the Silo's Dance: Mainstreaming Culture into European Policy” (ECF, Amsterdam, 2021) and “Culture in the Sustainable Development Goals: The Role of the European Union” (ifa, Stuttgart, 2020).