Maroš Šefčovič
Maroš Šefčovič | |
---|---|
European Commissioner for Education, Training, Culture and Youth | |
In office 1 October 2009 – 9 February 2010 | |
President | José Manuel Barroso |
Preceded by | Ján Figeľ |
Succeeded by | Androulla Vassiliou (Education, Culture, Multilingualism and Youth) |
Personal details | |
Born | Bratislava, Czechoslovakia (now Slovakia) | 24 July 1966
Political party | Communist Party (before 1990) Direction-Social Democracy (since 1999) |
Other political affiliations | Party of European Socialists |
Spouse | Helena Šefčovičová[1] |
Children | 3 |
Education | Moscow State Institute of International Relations Comenius University, Bratislava |
Maroš Šefčovič (Slovak: [ˈmarɔʂ ˈʂeftʂɔʋitʂ] ⓘ; born 24 July 1966) is a Slovak diplomat and politician serving as Executive Vice-President of the European Commission for the European Green Deal since 2023,[2] as well as Vice-President of the European Commission for Interinstitutional Relations since 2019, previously holding the office from 2010 to 2014. He has been member of the European Commission since 2009. Šefčovič also stood for office in the 2019 Slovak presidential election, which he lost against Zuzana Čaputová.[3]
He served as European Commissioner for Education, Training, Culture and Youth from 2009 to 2010 and Vice-President of the European Commission for Interinstitutional Relations and Administration from 2010 to 2014. He also served as European Commissioner for Energy from 2014 to 2019. In 2019, he was again nominated to become Vice President for Interinstitutional Relations and Foresight.
Early life and studies
Born in Bratislava, Šefčovič originally enrolled at the University of Economics in his hometown in 1984, but left the university after one year to pursue a degree in Russia at Moscow State Institute of International Relations, where he studied from 1985 to 1990.
In June 1987, Šefčovič became a candidate for membership in the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia. After the two-year candidacy period during which he had to secure three approvals from other party members and which he embraced to "deepen his knowledge of Marxism–Leninism", he filed an application for party membership in May 1989. The party approved his application on 1 June 1989 and he became an official member.[4]
In 2000, he obtained a PhD in international law at Comenius University in Bratislava. The subject of his dissertation thesis was Sources of the EU law and respective legislative procedures.[5]
Diplomatic career
Šefčovič is a former diplomat, who served in Zimbabwe, Canada, as well as the Slovak ambassador to Israel (1999–2002). He was also the Permanent Representative of the Slovak Republic to the European Union (2004–2009).[6]
Political career
European Commission
2009–2010: European Commissioner for Education, Training, Culture and Youth
Šefčovič replaced
2010–2014: Vice-President for Interinstitutional Relations and Administration
Šefčovič's responsibilities included the administration of the Commission and management of some of the Commission's Internal Services; in particular consolidation of administrative reform, personnel and administration, European Schools and security.[7] From 19 April 2014 to 25 May 2014, José Manuel Barroso was an Acting Commissioner in Šefčovič's stead while he was on electoral campaign leave for the 2014 elections to the European Parliament.[8]
2014–2019: European Commissioner for Energy
Šefčovič was appointed Vice-President of the European Commission for Energy Union in 2014.[9] In July 2015, he brokered an agreement between fifteen countries from central, eastern and southeast Europe to speed up the building of gas links, improve security of supply, reduce their reliance on Russia and develop a fully integrated energy market.[10]
When
2019–present: Vice-President for Interinstitutional Relations and Foresight
In September 2019 newly elected president of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen nominated Šefčovič as vice president for interinstitutional relations and foresight.[12] From 2021, he co-chaired and represented the European Union in the Partnership Council established by the EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement.[13]
In 2023, von der Leyen appointed Šefčovič to fill in for Frans Timmermans as European Commissioner for Climate Action.[14]
2023–present: Executive Vice-President for the European Green Deal
On 22 August 2023, after Frans Timmermans resigned from the European Commission to run in the 2023 Dutch general election for the GroenLinks–PvdA alliance, Šefčovič succeeded him as Executive Vice-President for the European Green Deal. The position of European Commissioner for Climate Action was also assigned to Šefčovič on a temporary basis until a permanent successor has been chosen by the Netherlands.[2]
2019 Slovak presidential campaign
On 18 January 2019, Šefčovič announced that he would stand as a candidate in the 2019 Slovak presidential race, with support of the Smer–SD party.[15]
In the first round of the election held on 16 March, Šefčovič received 18.66% of the vote and came in second place after Zuzana Čaputová, who received 40.57% of votes. They both qualified for the second round run-off, which took place on 30 March. Šefčovič was defeated by Čaputová, receiving 41.59% of the vote versus 58.41% of votes for his opponent.
Other activities
Political positions
LGBT stance and other social issues
During his presidential campaign, Šefčovič repeatedly spoke against legislative changes which would improve the status of
Šefčovič supported and welcomed the position of the Slovak parliament and government not to ratify the
International relations and foreign policy
Šefčovič also criticised his opponent Čaputová for her opinions on the
Šefčovič criticised the then-current president of Slovakia Andrej Kiska and said that he has caused "international isolation of Slovakia".[citation needed]
In the matter of
When asked about the
European Union
Šefčovič rejects the idea of
Personal life
Šefčovič is married to Helena Šefčovičová, with whom he has 3 children: Helena, Martina, and Maroš.[6][3] Šefčovič gave a TEDx talk at TEDxYouth@EEB3 in 2018.
Notes and references
- ^ "Press corner" (PDF).
- ^ a b Mathiesen, Karl; Weise, Zia; Lynch, Suzanne (22 August 2023). "Šefčovič replaces Timmermans as EU Green Deal chief". Politico Europe. Retrieved 24 August 2023.
- ^ a b "Slowakei: Liberale Anwältin Zuzana Caputová gewinnt Präsidentschaftswahl". Der Spiegel. 31 March 2019.
- ^ "Šefčovičova prihláška do KSČ: Ešte v máji 1989 chcel aktívne budovať socializmus". dennikn.sk (in Slovak). N Press s.r.o. 24 March 2019. Retrieved 25 March 2019.
- ^ http://alis.uniba.sk:8088/lib/item?id=chamo:102543
- ^ a b Official C.V. on European Commission website. Retrieved 12 September 2017
- ^ Mandate Description on European Commission website, archived on 17 November 2014
- ^ "Six commissioners head for EU election campaign trail". EUobserver. 3 April 2014.
- ^ "Maroš Šefčovič". European Commission. 1 September 2015.
- ^ Maja Zuvela (10 July 2015), European states agree to boost gas links, reduce reliance on Russia Reuters.
- ^ Carmen Paun and Lili Bayer (8 July 2019), Council rebuffs Juncker's plan to leave commissioner seats vacant Politico Europe.
- ^ "Šefčovič continues as vice-president of the Commission". The Slovak Spectator. 10 September 2019. Retrieved 1 October 2019.
- ^ Mia Bartoloni (22 January 2021), Movers & Shakers The Parliament Magazine.
- ^ Charlotte Van Campenhout and Foo Yun Chee (22 August 22023), EU's Sefcovic named interim climate chief after Timmermans quits Reuters.
- ^ "Šefčovič prijal ponuku Smeru, ohlásil kandidatúru na prezidenta". domov.sme.sk (in Slovak). Petit Press, a.s. Retrieved 18 March 2019.
- ^ International Advisory Council GLOBSEC.
- ^ "Šefčovič útočil na Čaputovú od prvej minúty: Jej liberálna agenda sa nezhoduje s kresťanskými hodnotami". dennikn.sk (in Slovak). N Press s.r.o. 17 March 2019. Retrieved 18 March 2019.
- ^ "EU centrist faces swing to right to secure Slovak poll victory". Financial Times. 18 March 2019. Retrieved 18 March 2019.
- ^ "Voľby prezidenta SR 2019 – diskusia s dvoma kandidátmi". rtvs.sk (in Slovak). Radio and Television of Slovakia. Retrieved 18 March 2019.
- ^ "Čaputová a Šefčovič by Slovensko mafiánskym štátom nikdy nenazvali". tv.pravda.sk (in Slovak). P E R E X, a. s. Retrieved 18 March 2019.
- ^ a b "Je problém, že mladí cítia skôr národne ako európsky, vravel Šefčovič". domov.sme.sk (in Slovak). Petit Press, a.s. Retrieved 18 March 2019.
- ^ "Duel Čaputovej so Šefčovičom pred 2. kolom volieb". ta3.com (in Slovak). C.E.N. s.r.o. 27 March 2019. Retrieved 28 March 2019.
- ^ "Ficov nezávislák: Šefčovič o Smerákoch aj o definícii slovenského zlodeja". plus7dni.pluska.sk (in Slovak). News and Media Holding, a.s. 13 March 2019. Retrieved 18 March 2019.
- ^ a b "Newsfilter: Čaputová zahanbila Šefčoviča v zahraničných témach". dennikn.sk (in Slovak). N Press s.r.o. 25 March 2019. Retrieved 25 March 2019.
- ^ "Čaputovú a Šefčoviča rozdeľuje zahraničná politika". etrend.sk (in Slovak). News and Media Holding a.s. 26 March 2019. Retrieved 27 March 2019.
- ^ "Prezidentský kandidát Maroš Šefčovič". ta3.com (in Slovak). C.E.N. s.r.o. 25 March 2019. Retrieved 25 March 2019.