Maroš Šefčovič | |
|---|---|
 Official portrait, 2024 | |
| European Commissioner for Trade and Economic Security and for Interinstitutional Relations and Transparency | |
| Assumed office 1 December 2024 | |
| Commission | Von der Leyen II |
| Preceded by | Valdis Dombrovskis(Trade) Věra Jourová(Transparency) |
| Executive Vice-President of the European Commission for the European Green Deal | |
| In office 22 August 2023 – 30 November 2024 Acting: 22 August 2023 – 5 October 2023 | |
| Commission | Von der Leyen I |
| Preceded by | Frans Timmermans |
| Succeeded by | Teresa Ribera |
| Vice-President of the European Commission for Interinstitutional Relations | |
| In office 1 December 2019 – 30 November 2024 | |
| Commission | Von der Leyen I |
| Preceded by | Frans Timmermans |
| Succeeded by | Himself, as commissioner |
| In office 9 February 2010 – 1 November 2014 | |
| Commission | Barroso II |
| Preceded by | Margot Wallström(Institutional Relations and Communication Strategy) Siim Kallas(Administrative Affairs, Audit and Anti-Fraud) |
| Succeeded by | Frans Timmermans |
| European Commissioner for Climate Action Acting | |
| In office 22 August 2023 – 9 October 2023 | |
| Commission | Von der Leyen I |
| Preceded by | Frans Timmermans |
| Succeeded by | Wopke Hoekstra |
| European Commissioner for Digital Single Market Acting | |
| In office 3 July 2019 – 30 November 2019 | |
| Commission | Juncker |
| Preceded by | Andrus Ansip |
| Succeeded by | Office abolished Margrethe Vestager (Executive Vice President) |
| European Commissioner for Health and Consumer Policy Acting | |
| In office 16 October 2012 – 28 November 2012 | |
| Commission | Barroso II |
| Preceded by | John Dalli |
| Succeeded by | Tonio Borg |
| European Commissioner for Energy | |
| In office 1 November 2014 – 30 November 2019 | |
| Commission | Juncker |
| Preceded by | Günther Oettinger |
| Succeeded by | Kadri Simson |
| European Commissioner for Education, Training, Culture and Youth | |
| In office 1 October 2009 – 9 February 2010 | |
| Commission | Barroso I |
| Preceded by | Ján Figeľ |
| Succeeded by | Androulla Vassiliou(Education, Culture, Multilingualism and Youth) |
| Ambassador ofSlovakia to theEuropean Union | |
| In office 2004 – 30 September 2009 | |
| Ambassador ofSlovakia toIsrael | |
| In office 1999–2002 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1966-07-24)24 July 1966 (age 59) |
| Party | Smer–SD (1999–present) |
| Other political affiliations | KSČ (before 1990) |
| Spouse | Helena Šefčovičová[1] |
| Children | 3 |
| Alma mater | Moscow State Institute of International Relations Comenius University |
Maroš Šefčovič (Slovak:[ˈmarɔʂˈʂeftʂɔʋitʂ]ⓘ; born 24 July 1966) is a Slovak diplomat and politician serving asEuropean Commissioner for Trade and Economic Security; Interinstitutional Relations and Transparency[2] (2024–2029) in theVon der Leyen Commission II. Prior to that, he was theExecutive Vice-President of the European Commission for the European Green Deal from 2023 to 2024,[3] as well asVice-President of the European Commission for Interinstitutional Relations since 2019, previously holding the office from 2010 to 2014. He has been a member of theEuropean Commission since 2009. Šefčovič also stood for office in the2019 Slovak presidential election, which he lost toZuzana Čaputová.[4]
Šefčovič served as European Commissioner for Education, Training, Culture and Youth from 2009 to 2010 andVice-President of the European Commission for Interinstitutional Relations and Administration from 2010 to 2014. He served asEuropean Commissioner for Energy from 2014 to 2019. In 2019, Šefčovič was appointed Vice-President for Interinstitutional Relations and Foresight.
Born inBratislava, Šefčovič originally enrolled at theUniversity of Economics in his hometown in 1984, but left the university after one year to pursue a degree in Russia atMoscow State Institute of International Relations, where he studied from 1985 to 1990.[citation needed]
In June 1987, Šefčovič became a candidate for membership of theCommunist Party of Czechoslovakia. After the two-year candidacy period, during which he had to secure three approvals from other party members and undertook to "deepen his knowledge ofMarxism–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.[5]
In 2000, he obtained a PhD in international law atComenius University in Bratislava. The subject of his dissertation thesis wasSources of the EU law and respective legislative procedures.[6]
Šefčovič is a former diplomat, having 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).[7]
Šefčovič replacedJán Figeľ asEuropean Commissioner for Education, Training, Culture and Youth on 1 October 2009.[citation needed]
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.[8] 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 the2014 elections to theEuropean Parliament.[9]
Šefčovič was appointedVice-President of the European Commission for Energy Union in 2014.[10] 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.[11]
Whendigital single marketAndrus Ansip stepped down from the European Commission to take up his seat in the European Parliament following the2019 elections, the Commission's PresidentJean-Claude Juncker announced that Ansip's portfolio would be transferred to Šefčovič.[12]
_-_Vice_president-designate_-_interinstitutional_relations_and_foresight._(48820949278).jpg)
In September 2019, newly-electedpresident of the European CommissionUrsula von der Leyen named Šefčovič as vice-president for interinstitutional relations and foresight.[13] From 2021, he served as co-chairman and represented the European Union in the Partnership Council established by the EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement.[14] In 2023, von der Leyen appointed Šefčovič to replaceFrans Timmermans asEuropean Commissioner for Climate Action.[15]
On 22 August 2023, afterFrans Timmermans resigned from the European Commission to run in the2023 Dutch general election for theGroenLinks–PvdA alliance, Šefčovič succeeded him as Executive Vice-President for theEuropean Green Deal. The position ofEuropean Commissioner for Climate Action was also assigned to Šefčovič on a temporary basis until a permanent successor has been chosen by the Netherlands.[3]
On 19 July 2024, following EU pressure,[16] Serbian PresidentAleksandar Vučić, German ChancellorOlaf Scholz and Maroš Šefčovič met and signed an agreement regarding the European Union's access to "critical raw materials" mined in Serbia, representing a further step towards facilitating theJadar mining project.[17] If completed, the project could supply 90% of Europe's currentlithium needs.[18]
Šefčovič was appointedEuropean Commissioner for Trade and Economic Security in 2024.
In 2025, he has announced an agreement on future trade framework with Ukraine, giving Ukraine favourable treatment to its exports to the EU, while protecting the agrifood sector in several Member States fearing the excessive influx of Ukrainian products by committing Ukraine to gradually align its agricultural production standards with those of the EU by 2028 and a safeguard mechanism. The agreement increased the quotas for some agrifood products, such as eggs, sugar and wheat, and abolished them for the least sensitive ones, such as whole milk powder and fermented milk.[19]
In September 2025, Šefčovič voiced support for closer trade relations between theEU and India, saying, "We are fully aware of the enormous potential for our mutual trade. It's about strategic choices. And clearly, India is a strategic partner, from any angle you would look at it."[20]
On 18 January 2019, Šefčovič announced that he would stand as a candidate in the2019 Slovak presidential race, with support of theSmer–SD party.[21]
In the first round of the election held on 16 March, Šefčovič received 18.66% of the vote and came in second place afterZuzana 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.[citation needed]
During his presidential campaign, Šefčovič repeatedly spoke against legislative changes which would improve the status ofLGBT rights in Slovakia, strongly opposing bothcivil partnerships andsame-sex adoptions. He dubbed his opponent Čaputová (who is in favour of both) as a candidate who is forcing a "new ultraliberal agenda" on Slovakia, comparing the second round of elections to a referendum on such an agenda, which he considered to be "in exact contradiction to traditional Christian values".[23][24] He also stated that "we cannot support any further steps towards civil unions or same-sex adoptions because these would go precisely against our traditional Christian values", calling this stance as his "very natural position" due to his Christianity.[25][26] According to his opinion, discussions about "such experiments bring great unrest to society".[27] Šefčovič supported and welcomed the position of the Slovak parliament and government not to ratify theIstanbul Convention (aimed againstviolence against women anddomestic violence), citing his concerns about so-called "gender ideology".[28]
Šefčovič also criticised his opponent Čaputová for her opinions on themigrant crisis and related policies. He emphasised the importance of a speedy deportation policy, so that "people who do not have any business here are sent to their home countries as quickly as possible".[29] Furthermore, he pointed out that "it has to be Slovaks who decide who comes to our country".[27] Šefčovič has criticizedAngela Merkel's actions in this area, labeling her "latest decisions which opened door to mass migration" as something that was not "thought-out very well".[30]
In the matter ofRussia–EU relations, Šefčovič emphasised that he does not consider Russia to be any kind of threat. He also criticised imposedsanctions, stating that people are suffering from them.[31]
When asked about theVenezuelan presidential crisis, Šefčovič refused to identify eitherNicolás Maduro orJuan Guaidó as legitimate president, stating that "leaning on one or the other side might worsen the situation".[30]
Šefčovič rejects the idea ofEU federalization, saying he is "against creating aEuropean superstate", and considerstax policy, autonomous migration policy, andfamily law issues to be "red lines" which should not be crossed by the European Union.[32]
Šefčovič is married to Helena Šefčovičová, with whom he has three children: Helena, Martina, and Maroš.[7][4]
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Slovak European Commissioner 2009–present | Incumbent |
| European Commissioner for Education, Training, Culture and Youth 2009–2010 | Succeeded byas European Commissioner for Education, Culture, Multilingualism and Youth | |
| Preceded byasEuropean Commissioner for Institutional Relations and Communication Strategy | European Commissioner for Interinstitutional Relations and Administration 2010–2014 | Succeeded byas European Commissioner for Better Regulation, Interinstitutional Relations,Rule of Law and Charter of Fundamental Rights |
| Preceded byas European Commissioner for Administrative Affairs, Audit and Anti-Fraud | ||
| Preceded by | European Commissioner for Health and Consumer Policy Acting 2012 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded byas European Commissioner for Energy | European Commissioner for the Energy Union 2014–present | Incumbent |
| Preceded by | European Commissioner for Digital Single Market Acting 2019–present | |
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