Maria Jaspers is since November 2020 the Director of DG Competition’s Cartel Directorate, overlooking four units dedicated to cartel detection and prosecution. She joined the European Commission and DG Competition in 2001 and worked in different units dealing with competition policy and enforcement issues before starting her management career as the Deputy Head of the Antitrust and Merger Case Coordination Unit in 2007. She became a Head of Unit in DG Competition in 2011 and spent five years in that role in the Cartel Directorate before taking over the Antitrust Policy and Case Support Unit. Before joining the European Commission, Maria spent two years in private practice, specializing in competition and contractual law.