Roland Verstappen Joins the FH Brussels Advisory Board

FleishmanHillard Brussels is delighted to announce that Roland Verstappen has joined the firm as Senior Adviser and a new member of the company’s Advisory Board. Thanks to his distinguished Public and Government Affairs career at Global and European level in blue-chip corporations such as Heineken, ArcelorMittal and Ford Motor Company, Roeland will provide senior counsel across a range of major corporate issues including trade, competition as well as sectoral regulation.

The FH Advisory Board is composed of high calibre senior profiles who have worked for the EU institutions, national governments and major corporations. They spot trends, help develop strategies and connect stakeholders in pursuit of high-impact communication and public affairs outcomes. The current team includes Thomas Christensen, former Chief negotiator in DG Trade and Senior Adviser to the Danish Minister for Climate and Energy, Chris Davies, formerly the coordinator of the ALDE Group in the Environment Committee in the European Parliament, Claudio Murri, a globally-minded business leader, with over 30 years of experience in companies such as Time Warner, Oracle, Electronic Data Systems and the IBM Corporation, Jean-Arnold Vinois, former Director at DG Energy, and Günter Verheugen, formerly European Vice President and Commissioner for Enterprise and previously for Enlargement.

Biography

Roland Verstappen has been a highly-regarded and seasoned public and governmental affairs professional at Global and European level for more than 25 years.  He has gained a wealth of experience throughout his career in senior Public and Government Affairs positions in blue chip corporations in the drinks, steel and automotive sectors.

From 2012 until the end of June 2018, Roland was Global Director Public and Governmental Affairs in Heineken International based in Amsterdam leading the company’s government affairs strategies at Global, European and National level.  He currently is actively involved in the prestigious and influential European Round Table of Industrialists (ERT) with particular focus on global and European trade policy issues.

Before joining Heineken, Roland joined Mittal Steel in 2006 as Director Governmental Affairs, was actively involved in the merger with Arcelor after which he led governmental affairs strategies for ArcelorMittal as Vice President International Affairs and Corporate Responsibility.  From 1985 to 2005, Roland had an extensive career in Ford Motor Company including managing the Brussels office from 1993 to 1995 and then as Ford of Europe’s Executive Director responsible for leading Ford’s governmental affairs team at European and national level.

In all these high-level roles, Roland has also taken on the role of Chairman of the International Relations Committee of Business Europe from 2010 to 2014.  He has also represented Ford, ArcelorMittal and Heineken and respective industries in a wide range of International and European business associations. In this capacity, he has been able to travel the globe and play a key role in leading, developing and implementing strategies aimed at achieving balanced policy and regulatory outcomes for all stakeholders involved.

Roland is a Belgian national where he obtained his law degree and he is also an alumni of the College of Europe, Bruges, with an MA in European law.