Ondřej Kovařík

Ondrej Kovarik is a Senior Consultant at FTI Consulting. He focuses on policy and regulation across the aerospace and defense, financial services, information technology, public sector and government contracts, and transportation and logistics industries. Mr. Kovarik’s expertise spans digital assets, public affairs, public policy and strategic communications, with a particular emphasis on the intersection of economic policy and emerging technologies.

Mr. Kovarik is a senior expert on EU affairs and public policy, drawing on his experience as a former top-level EU official with a background in economic affairs, political leadership and diplomacy. Since 2019, he has served as a Member of the European Parliament, working in the Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee and the Committee on Budgets. In this capacity, he acted as lead negotiator on legislative initiatives covering digital finance, tax policy, prospectus review and the revision of Payment Services legislation, as well as contributing to policy on artificial intelligence, transport infrastructure, the automotive industry and security and foreign affairs.

Before his parliamentary mandate, Mr. Kovarik held senior advisory and diplomatic roles, including serving as the Czech Republic’s representative to the European Union institutions. He also headed a directorate overseeing the EU defense agenda and NATO cooperation, leading organizational transformation within one of the country’s largest government departments.

Mr. Kovarik holds an M.A. in International Relations from the Prague University of Economics and an M.P.A. in Public Administration from the Ecole Nationale d’Administration. He also holds a Certificate in Sustainable Finance from Frankfurt Business School.

Relevant Experience:

• Lead negotiator and European Parliament rapporteur on digital finance, tax policy, prospectus review and Payment Services legislation reform
• Negotiated key files on Capital Markets Union, banking framework, digital finance, Recovery and Resilience Facility and InvestEU access to finance for subject-matter experts
• Headed directorate overseeing EU defense agenda and NATO cooperation, leading organizational transformation of a major government department