Dr. Phillip Gounev

Dr. Phillip Gounev is a leading expert in anti-corruption and EU home affairs. During his long career as a public policy consultant and researcher he has advised EU institutions and authored numerous policy reports on home affairs and anti-corruption.

Dr. Gounev served as Deputy Minister of Interior of Bulgaria in three governments between 2013 and 2017 and was responsible for developing Bulgaria’s Anti-Corruption Strategy and the Ministry of Interior’s Anti-Corruption Council. Prior to that Dr. Gounev spent a decade at the Center for the Study of Democracy, a leading Bulgarian think-tank, leading its work in the field of security and home affairs. Between 2011 and 2014 he was Member of the European Commission’s Group of Experts on Corruption.

He is the co-author of “Corruption and Organized Crime in Europe: Illegal partnerships” (Routledge, 2012).

Dr. Gounev holds a PhD in Sociology from the London School of Economics, Master’s degree of International Affairs from Columbia University, and BA from Eastern Nazarene College.