Stanislav Ralchev holds a Master’s degree in Veterinary Medicine and a second one in Management of European Administration. Now he is a Policy officer in the Animal Welfare and Antimicrobial Resistance Unit at the European Commission (DG SANTE) in Brussels. At present, he is in charge of the protection of animals during transport and the international activities in the area of animal welfare.

Before joining the European Commission in 2016, he has worked for several years at the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE), dealing with different animal health and welfare issues in the region of Europe, while being based in the OIE Regional Representations in Brussels and Sofia, Bulgaria. Bulgarian by nationality he started his professional career from the National Veterinary Service of Bulgaria where he worked for few years on both animal health and welfare topics.  

Sandra Sanmartin works in the Unit Animal Welfare, Antimicrobial Resistance in the Directorate General for Health and Food Safety of the European Commission as a legal officer. She is responsible, among others, for the protection of animals during transport, tertiary legislation and legal matters within the Unit. She graduated in EU Law at the University of Santiago de Compostela in 2008 and has worked in EU affairs ever since.

She worked in Brussels in the fisheries and aquaculture sector, until 2019, when she joined DG SANTE – official controls.