Patrick Penninckx has spent the last 30 years of his career with the Council of Europe, contributing to the transformation processes of the Organisation and developing partnerships with international and national institutions.

Currently heading the Information Society Department under the Directorate General Human Rights and the Rule of Law, Patrick coordinates standard setting and cooperation activities in the fields of media, internet governance, data protection, cybercrime and artificial intelligence. He is also responsible for projects related to public-private partnerships and cooperation with business partners.

His professional focus encompasses areas such as freedom of expression, safety of journalists, sound internet governance, international standards in the data protection, action against cybercrime and the impact of AI on human rights.

An outspoken public speaker promoting the Council of Europe values and achievements, he holds Political Science and Educational degrees from the University of Leuven.

Previously, Patrick oversaw Human Resources policy development, transforming the administrative management of personnel into a competency based human resource policy.

Patrick is fluent in English, French, German, Spanish and Dutch.

Noel took up the role of Director General of the EBU in September 2017. The EBU has 112 member organizations from 56 countries with an additional 30 Associates in Asia, Africa, Australasia, and the Americas. Our Members operate nearly 2,000 television, radio and online channels and services, and offer a wealth of content across other platforms. Together they reach an audience of more than one billion people around the world, broadcasting in more than 160 languages. The EBU operates Eurovision and Euroradio services and has offices in Brussels, Rome, Washington, New York, Beijing, Singapore, and Moscow.

He was formerly the Director General, Managing Director of Television and Editor of Current Affairs of RTÉ, Ireland's national television and radio broadcaster. As Director General he successfully led RTÉ during one of the most financially challenging and competitive periods in media history.

A strong and long-time advocate of public service media, Curran is an award-winning investigative journalist and Producer. As an Editor and Producer, Noel's investigative documentaries won numerous awards for journalism in Ireland and internationally.