Marisa Matias
Marisa Matias | |
---|---|
Member of the Assembly of the Republic | |
Assumed office 26 March 2024 | |
Constituency | Porto |
Member of the European Parliament for Portugal | |
In office 14 July 2009 – 25 March 2024 | |
Succeeded by | Anabela Rodrigues |
Personal details | |
Born | Marisa Isabel dos Santos Matias 20 February 1976 Sociologist • Politician |
Website | EU Personal Profile |
Marisa Isabel dos Santos Matias (born 20 February 1976) is a Portuguese sociologist and politician. She is a member of the Assembly of the Republic since 2024.[1] She was also a Member of the European Parliament, between 2009 and 2024. She currently seated on the Economic and Monetary Affairs (ECON) and Industry, Research and Energy (ITRE) Committees. She was also Chairwoman of the Delegation of the European Parliament for relations with the Mashreq countries (Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria).[2] Between 2010 and 2016 she was Vice-President of the Party of the European Left.
In November 2015, Matias announced her candidacy for the 2016 Portuguese presidential elections, representing the Left Bloc party. She finished 3rd, with 10,12% of the votes, the best result ever achieved by a woman in a presidential election in Portugal at the time.[3] She was also a candidate for Left Bloc in the 2021 Portuguese presidential election in which she came 5th, with 3.95% of the vote.
Biography
Marisa Matias studied Sociology at the University of Coimbra, where she completed her doctoral thesis: “Is nature sick of us? Health, environment and emerging forms of citizenship” (2009). Her areas of specialisation include environmental health, sociology of science, political sociology, democracy and participation. She has published several scientific articles, chapters in books and other publications, on the relations between environment and public health, science and knowledge, democracy and citizenship.
Civic and political activity
Matias is a member of the Left Bloc National Board and Executive Board; as well as a member of the board of Pro-Urbe, a civic association in Coimbra. She was a national trustee of the movement "Cidadania e Responsabilidade pelo Sim", during the campaign for decriminalization of abortion in Portugal. She was also an activist in the movement against co-incineration in Souselas (pt) and head of the Left Bloc list in the elections for Coimbra Municipality (2005).
Member of the European Parliament
2009 – 2014
In 2009, Matias was elected as a Member of the European Parliament (
At the beginning of her mandate, Matias was nominated the Parliament's rapporteur to write and negotiate the directive preventing the distribution of counterfeit medicines, a business that generates more than €400 billion per year for the counterfeiting networks and puts at risk the life of patients. The directive, negotiated for almost two years with the parliamentary groups and the governments, was approved in 2011. This was only the second time since Portugal's entrance into the EU that a Portuguese MEP had led the process of a framework-directive - a law that will be transposed to the judicial system of each of the EU Member States.
At the same time, she was also rapporteur of the European strategy in the fight against
Throughout 2011 and 2012, Matias was the Parliament's rapporteur for the definition of a Common Strategic Framework for Research and Innovation. The report was approved in 2012 and established the bases for what should be the proposal for the
In 2012, she was still nominated rapporteur of the European Parliament for the evaluation of the
Marisa Matias was, still, the Parliament's rapporteur for four opinion on European strategy for adapting to climate change, resettling of GDP calculation, proposal for a new pluri-annual financing framework and regulation defining indexes on the goods traded in stock market.
As shadow rapporteur, meaning, MEP responsible within its parliamentary group, to follow and negotiate proposals led by other colleagues from other parliamentary groups, Marisa Matias followed, during the mandate, the making of 25 parliamentary proposals, having presented proposals for change and being present in negotiation meetings. So far, was also co-author of 119 proposals of parliamentary resolutions.
While Vice-President of the Parliament to the relations with the Mashreq countries (Lebanon, Syria, Jordan and Egypt) was part and presided to several parliamentary negotiations with these countries, coordinating processes of negotiation with the correspondent national parliaments. This was also done during the period known for the transformations introduced by the Arab Spring. Marisa is also member of the Parliament's Delegation to the relations with the Palestinian Legislative Council, having developed initiatives mainly concerning the siege of the Gaza Strip.
Presidential candidacy
On 18 October 2015, Catarina Martins, coordinator of the Left Bloc, announced that, as no credible unifying leftist candidate had thus far come forward for the Presidential elections of January 2016, Marisa Matias allowed her name to be put forward as representing her party in those elections. She finished 3rd, with 10,12% of the votes, the best result ever achieved by a woman in a presidential election in Portugal. On 9 September 2021, Marisa Matias announced she would run for president again on the 2021 Portuguese presidential election.[4]
References
- ^ Cunha, Mariana Lima. "Marisa Matias será cabeça de lista do Bloco de Esquerda pelo Porto". Observador (in European Portuguese). Retrieved 21 March 2024.
- ^ "Marisa MATIAS | Home | MEPs | European Parliament". www.europarl.europa.eu. Retrieved 24 January 2017.
- ^ "Marisa Matias é a mulher mais votada de sempre em presidenciais" (in European Portuguese).
- ^ Lourenço, Eunice; Madureira Martins, Susana (9 September 2020). "Presidenciais 2021. Marisa Matias é candidata "frente-a-frente" com Marcelo - Renascença" [Presidential Elections 2021. Marisa Matias is a “face-to-face” candidate with Marcelo]. Rádio Renascença (in European Portuguese). Retrieved 2 March 2021.
External links
- Personal profile of Marisa Matias in the European Parliament's database of members
- ""um pauzinho na engrenagem" o Bloco de Esquerda no Parlamento Europeu". pauzinho-na-engrenagem.net (in Portuguese). Archived from the original on 28 November 2018.
- Marisa Matias on Facebook
- Marisa Matias on Twitter