Dr. Nicolaides has been educated in the United States, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom and has a PhD in economics and a PhD in law. He has acted as consultant to a number of public authorities in various EU Member States and to international institutions and organisations such as the European Commission, the European Investment Fund, the European Economic and Social Committee, the OECD and the UN. He has published extensively on competition policy, State aid, and policy implementation. During the past 15 years, he has carried out training activities on State aid in most EU Member States.