Janez Potočnik was born on 22/03/1958 in Kropa na Gorenjskem, Slovenia. In 1983, he graduated in Economics at the University of Ljubljana. In 1993 he went on to obtain a PhD. He first worked as an analyst for the former SDK (now the Agency for Financial Transactions) in Kranj. During the period from 1984 to 1987, he was Assistant Director of the RS Institute for Social Planning in Ljubljana, and from 1988 to 1993, he was engaged as a Senior Researcher at the Institute for Economic Research. From 1993 to 2001, he was Director of the Institute of Macroeconomic Analysis and Development. From June 2001 to January 2002, he was Ministerial Counsellor, responsible for European Affairs. On 24/01/2002, the Government appointed him Minister without Portfolio, responsible for European Affairs. Janez Potočnik is a Senior Lecturer at the Department of Economics at the Faculty of Law in Ljubljana. Since 1998, he has also been Head of the Negotiating Team of the Republic of Slovenia for Accession to the EU.