Ms. Holla-Maini has substantial experience in the aerospace industry, in particular in satellite business strategy and legal aspects of technological development.

Previously she represented Galileo Industries, the joint venture company of EADS Astrium, Alenia Spazio, Alcatel Space and Galileo Systemas y Servicios in Brussels, where she worked closely with European Institutions on the development of the public private partnership scheme and management aspects of the Galileo programme.

Ms. Holla-Maini started her career in the aerospace industry at DaimlerChrysler Aerospace (now EADS) in Munich, Germany. Responsibilities included posts in the Project & Trade Finance Department and in the Space Strategy Division. She went on to become project manager for a new digital audio broadcast venture that was being evaluated by EADS at the time before making the move to Brussels in 2000 to Galileo Industries.

Ms. Holla-Maini is the author of the negotiation case study ‘MAWACS - The Deal of the Century’ which has been used on the MBA programme at New York University and for corporate training and evaluation purposes at EADS. She has regularly given workshops on negotiation skills for young managers. She holds an MBA from HEC in France, a diploma in German law from the University of Passau, Germany and a law degree from King’s College at the University of London. She qualified as a Solicitor of the Supreme Court in London in 1995, working with the law firm of Pannone Pritchard Englefield. She lives in Brussels and speaks five languages.