[SatNews] Thales Alenia Space has appointed Julia Maris, 38, Vice President, Public and Regulatory Affairs.

After earning degrees from the Institute of Political Science ("Sciences Po") in Grenoble (1996) then Paris (1997), Julia Maris joined the French defense procurement agency DGA (Direction Générale de l’Armement) in 1997 as Special Advisor to the Human Resources department. In 1999 she was promoted to the position of Head of the European Union Bureau in the Collaboration and Industrial Affairs directorate, a position she held until 2002. She then attended ENA (Ecole Nationale d'Administration), the prestigious French school for senior civil servants, starting in 2003, including an internship with the European Commission in Brussels, as advisor in the cabinet of Chris Patten, European Commissioner for Foreign Relations.

After earning a degree from ENA in 2005, she returned to the French Ministry of Defense. For the next two year she was Head of the Bureau of International Law, in the Legal Affairs directorate. Julia Maris left the Ministry of Defense in 2007 when she was named Special Advisor to the Commission in charge of drawing up the White Paper on Defense and National Security. From 2008 to 2012 she moved to the corporate world as Vice President, Marketing, Development and Public Relations with the DCI group (Défense Conseil International).

Since May 2012, Julia Maris has held the position of European Affairs Advisor to the Minister, Jean-Yves Le Drian.