Sławomir Tokarski obtained PhD degree at the European University Institute in Florence in 1995. He joined the Polish administration and headed a team co-ordinating the preparations for the accession negotiations and preparing policy analysis for the Chief Negotiator. In 2004 he joined the Commission as a Cabinet member of the Commissioner responsible for the regional policy. In 2009 he was nominated Head of Unit dealing with economic policy and co-ordination of EU funding in DG MARE. In March 2012 he became Head of Defence, Aeronautics and Maritime industries in DG Enterprise. From 2016 until 2021, he was a Director in DG GROW responsible for Industrial policy and Innovation.

In 2021, Sławomir Tokarski joined DG REGIO as a Director for the European Territorial Cooperation, Macro-regions, Interreg and Programmes Implementation I.