THREE candidates have been shortlisted for the role of executive director of the European Union Agency for Railways (ERA), which has been vacant since the retirement of Josef Doppelbauer in November 2024.
The candidates are:
- Laurent Cébulski (France), the current director general of France’s Railway Safety Board (EPSF)
- Oana Gherghinescu (Romania), current head of the executive office at ERA, and
- Matej Zakonjšek (Slovenia), former head of the cabinet of EU transport commissioner, Violeta Bulc, and the current director of Transport Community, which supports transport in the Western Balkans.
A vote to select decide the preferred candidate will take place during an extraordinary meeting of the ERA management board on March 19. A total of 29 votes will be cast, one by each EU member state and two by the European Commission (EC). A candidate requires a majority of 20 votes or more to win.
Doppelbauer was honoured at the European Railway Award 2025 ceremony in Brussels on February 17. He led ERA for 10 years, overseeing the agency’s transformation under the Fourth Railway Package to become responsible for vehicle and ERTMS trackside authorisation as well as safety certification in EU member states.
