Alumni Profile: Thomas Brinkmann

From his work at the Federal Environment Agency in Berlin to his current role at the European Commission—Brinkmann remains true to his passion for the environment. Since 2007, the 56-year-old has held positions in several directorates-general at the European Commission. These are often comparable to federal ministries. Brinkmann began his career in the field of development cooperation. “This is now the fourth Directorate-General I’ve worked in,” he adds. After three years working on development policy in Brussels, he spent another ten years at the EU’s Joint Research Center—this time in Spain. In Seville, he identified the best available techniques (BAT) for the EU Industrial Emissions Directive, which can be used to reduce the environmental impact of large industrial facilities. “It’s about reducing emissions into water and the air, but also about energy consumption,” explains Brinkmann. At the end of this process, standards are established based on the best facilities in the EU and implemented within a specified timeframe. In this way, all facilities in the EU would be required to adopt these best available techniques. Brinkmann adds: “It was very technical work that was then incorporated into legislation.”