ECIT Taskforce
Martina Rubino
Event & Advocacy Intern —
Political Rights
Martina Rubino is a Master’s student in European Studies at the Institute for European Studies (IEE-ULB) in Brussels and an Event & Advocacy Intern at the ECIT Foundation. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in International Relations and Diplomatic Affairs from the University of Bologna, and she had the opportunity to study in the Czech Republic and Estonia thanks to the Erasmus programme. After graduating, she spent 9 months in France as a volunteer of the European Solidarity Corps, working on international solidarity, promotion of European projects and sustainability. From October 2021 to October 2022, she has been the Event coordinator of the Students’ Association of the Institute for European Studies and since July 2022, she is the President of the IEE student association and magazine Eyes on Europe. She is focusing her studies on civil and social rights, gender equality and youth participation in politics.
Martina Rubino
Event & Advocacy Intern —
Political Rights
Martina Rubino is a Master’s student in European Studies at the Institute for European Studies (IEE-ULB) in Brussels and an Event & Advocacy Intern at the ECIT Foundation. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in International Relations and Diplomatic Affairs from the University of Bologna, and she had the opportunity to study in the Czech Republic and Estonia thanks to the Erasmus programme. After graduating, she spent 9 months in France as a volunteer of the European Solidarity Corps, working on international solidarity, promotion of European projects and sustainability. From October 2021 to October 2022, she has been the Event coordinator of the Students’ Association of the Institute for European Studies and since July 2022, she is the President of the IEE student association and magazine Eyes on Europe. She is focusing her studies on civil and social rights, gender equality and youth participation in politics.
The Taskforce is supported by two Brussels-based ECIT Board Members
Tony Venables
ECIT Foundation Founder and Board Member
Tony Venables founded ECIT Foundation in 2015. He has a long working experience in European issues, in particular in the areas of the EU’s relationship with NGOs, free movement of people, citizenship rights, and the protection of consumers in Europe. His work also relates to transparency, governance and institutional reform of the European Union.
After graduating from the University of Cambridge with a first class degree in 1966, Tony started to work as an Administrator with the Council of Europe as Secretary of different Parliamentary Committees, including the Political Affairs Committee. From 1973 to 1978, he was an administrator in the Council of Ministers’ Secretariat in the department dealing with institutional affairs and relations with the European Parliament. In 1978, he became Director of BEUC (European Bureau of Consumer Unions) and successfully built up the organisation, before leaving in April 1990 to found the European Citizen Action Service (ECAS). He then also founded the Maison des Associations Internationales as an incubator for CSOs — a formula that also inspired the Salon for European Civic Organisations (SECO) where ECIT is currently based. He was a member of the Commission’s high-level panel on free movement of people chaired by Simone Veil. He has published a book on European citizenship titled Piecing together Europe’s Citizenship: Searching for Cinderella.
