His Excellency Jerzy Buzek | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Official portrait, 2019 | |||||||||||||
| President of the European Parliament | |||||||||||||
| In office 14 July 2009 – 17 January 2012 | |||||||||||||
| Deputy | |||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Hans-Gert Pöttering | ||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | Martin Schulz | ||||||||||||
| Prime Minister of Poland | |||||||||||||
| In office 31 October 1997 – 19 October 2001 | |||||||||||||
| President | Aleksander Kwaśniewski | ||||||||||||
| Deputy | See list
| ||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Włodzimierz Cimoszewicz | ||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | Leszek Miller | ||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||
| Personal details | |||||||||||||
| Born | Jerzy Karol Buzek (1940-07-03)3 July 1940 (age 85) | ||||||||||||
| Political party | Civic Platform | ||||||||||||
| Other political affiliations | European People's PartySolidarity Electoral Action (1996–2001) | ||||||||||||
| Spouse | Ludgarda Buzek | ||||||||||||
| Children | Agata | ||||||||||||
| Education | Silesian University of Technology | ||||||||||||
| Awards |  _1class_BAR.svg)   | ||||||||||||
| Signature |  | ||||||||||||
Jerzy Karol Buzek ([ˈjɛʐɨ ˈbuzɛk] ⓘ; born 3 July 1940) is aPolishpolitician and formerMember of the European Parliament fromPoland. He has served asPrime Minister of Poland from 1997 to 2001, since being elected to theEuropean Parliament in 2004, he served asPresident of the European Parliament between 2009 and 2012.[1] He is married to Ludgarda Buzek[2] and is the father of Polish actressAgata Buzek.
Jerzy Karol Buzek was born to aLutheran family on 3 July 1940 inSmilovice,Czechoslovakia (at the time part ofNazi Germany and calledSmilowitz). He was born into the prominent Buzek family, which participated in Polish politics in theSecond Polish Republic during theinterbellum. The family was part of thePolish community in theTrans-Olza region.[3] Buzek's father was an engineer. After theSecond World War, his family moved toChorzów. He is aLutheran.
In 1963 Jerzy Buzek graduated from the Mechanics-and-Energy Division of theSilesian University of Technology, specialising inchemical engineering. He became a scientist in the Chemical Engineering Institute of thePolish Academy of Sciences. Since 1997 he has been a professor of technical science. He is also an honorary doctor of the universities inSeoul andDortmund among others.[4]
From 1997 to 2001, Buzek was a coalitionPrime Minister of Poland.
In 1998 he became the first laureate of the Grzegorz Palka Award[5] and was nominatedEuropean of the Year by the European Union Business Chambers Forum.
In 1998 he was named 'Person of the Year' by the influential Polish political weeklyWprost. He won the award for the second time in 2009. On receiving the award again, as President of the European Parliament, he stressed that he was the first winner to be honoured for his work beyond the borders of Poland.[6]
He was the first Prime Minister of the 3rd Republic of Poland to serve a full term.Jerzy Buzek was the first Lutheran Prime Minister in the history of Poland.
After losing the parliamentary elections in 2001, he stepped back from political life and focused more on his scientific work, becoming the prorector ofAkademia Polonijna inCzęstochowa and professor in the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering of theOpole University of Technology inOpole.
His return to political life in 2004 saw him gain the largest popular vote in Poland as the member forKatowice to theEuropean Parliament standing for theCivic Platform.
WhilstPresident of the European Parliament, on 30 March 2011, he was awarded an honorary fellowship of theInstitution of Chemical Engineers at a meeting of theEuropean Federation of Chemical Engineering (EFCE) inBrussels, Belgium.[7]
In the 1980s, Buzek was an activist of theanti-communist movements, including the legal (1980–1981 and since 1989) and underground (1981–1989)Solidarity trade union and political movement incommunist Poland. He was an active organiser of the trade union's regional and national underground authorities. He was also the chairman of the four national general meetings (1st, 4th, 5th, and 6th) when the Solidarity movement was allowed to participate in the political process again.[8]
Jerzy Buzek was a member of theSolidarity Electoral Action (AWS) and co-author of the AWS's economic program. After the1997 elections he was elected to theSejm, the lower house of the Polish Parliament, and was soon appointedPrime Minister of Poland. In 1999 he became the chairman of theAWS Social Movement (Ruch Społeczny AWS) and in 2001 he became the Chairman of the Solidarity Electoral Action coalition.[8]
Between the years 1997–2001 he was the Prime Minister of Poland, first of the centre-right AWS–Freedom Union coalition government until 2001, and then of the right-wing AWS minority government. His cabinet's major achievements were four significant political and economic reforms: a new local government and administration division of Poland, reform of the pension system, reform of the educational system, and reform of the medical care system.[9] AWS was defeated in the2001 Polish parliamentary election. Buzek resigned as the chairman of AWS Social Movement and was replaced byMieczysław Janowski.
On 13 June 2004, in theEuropean Parliament election, 2004, Jerzy Buzek was elected aMember of the European Parliament (MEP) from theSilesian Voivodeship, basing his candidacy only on the popularity of his name and on direct contact with the voters. He received a record number of votes, 173,389 (22.14% of the total votes in the region). His current party affiliation is with theCivic Platform, which is a member of theEuropean People's Party.
In the 2004–2009 European Parliament, he was a member of theCommittee on Industry, Research and Energy, an alternate member of theCommittee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety, a member of the Delegation to the EU–Ukraine Parliamentary Cooperation Committee, and an alternate delegate for the delegation for relations with the countries of Central America. He served as rapporteur on the EU's 7th Framework Programme for Research and Development, a multibillion-euro spending program for the years 2007–2013.
On 7 June 2009, in theEuropean Parliament election, 2009, Buzek was re-elected as a Member of theEuropean Parliament from theSilesian Voivodeship constituency. Just as in the previous election, Buzek received a record number of votes in Poland: 393,117 (over 42% of the total votes in the district). On 12 September 2018, he voted in favor of approving the controversialDirective on Copyright in the Digital Single Market.[10]
In the 2014–2019 European Parliament he was the Chair of theCommittee on Industry, Research and Energy, responsible for industrial policy, EU research and innovation policy, space policy, energy policy and the application of new technologies. In the 2014–2019 European Parliament he remained a regular member of the Committee.
.jpg)
On 14 July 2009, Buzek was electedPresident of the European Parliament with 555 votes of the 644 votes cast, the largest majority ever,[11] becoming the first person from the formerEastern Bloc and the first former Prime Minister sincePierre Pflimlin to gain that position.[1] He succeeded the GermanChristian Democrat MEP,Hans-Gert Pöttering.[1] He pledged to make human rights and the promotion of the Eastern partnership two of his priorities during his term of office, which would last two and a half years, due to a political deal, Social Democrat MEPMartin Schulz who take over after that.[1][failed verification][12]
In his inaugural address in Strasbourg, Buzek stated that among the greatest challenges faced by the European parliament were the economic crisis, European solidarity, human rights, and reform within the Parliament itself.[13] Buzek also stated he would be committed to reform of the European economy, tackling rising unemployment, energy security, and climate change, strengthening European solidarity and integration and promoting equal opportunities for women. However, Buzek noted that theLisbon Treaty would be a prerequisite to any change "(so that the Union can be) well-organised and effective".[14]
On 8 December 2009 Buzek was awarded by the Ministerpräsident ofNorth Rhine-Westphalia, Dr.Jürgen Rüttgers, the annual "Staatspreis award". The prize was awarded in honor of his lifetime achievements and highlighted the European Parliament as a "motor of integration." Affirming his commitment to the Eastern Partnership and "those who do not have the possibility to participate in our European integration project", Buzek announced that the prize money would be donated to theEuropean Humanities University (EHU), A Belarusian university in exile in Vilnius.[15]
TheLisbon Treaty, which came into force on 1 December 2009 shortly after Buzek assumed office, brought a conclusion to nearly a decade of internal discussions and greatly boosted the democratic powers of the European Parliament. From very early on Buzek has been a vocal supporter of the treaty as part of a wider push for greater political integration in Europe.[16] The rise in legislative powers under the treaty in fact represents almost a doubling in power.[17] Since its introduction Parliament has equal rights with theCouncil of Ministers over 40 new fields within the "co-decision" procedure, such as agriculture, energy security, immigration, justice and home affairs, health and structural funds.[17]
In late 2011 Buzek's presidency also endorsed the 'Sixpack' legislation on economic governance to tackle the growing Eurozone crisis. This was a follow-up on the earlierStability and Growth Pact and theEuro Plus Pact intended as a means of optimising macroeconomic surveillance in Europe and avoiding crises in the eurozone in the future.[18] Welcoming the parliament's adoption of the legislation on 28 October 2011, Buzek stated: "The adoption of the six-pack by the whole European Parliament is good news for the European Union. We have a new economic rule-book. We have developed a powerful and resistant armour against any future crises. With the adoption of the six-pack, the EU significantly strengthens its budget discipline and moves towards true economic governance. We can not turn the clock back, but the package will ensure that Member States budgets will be credible."[19]
One of Buzek's major challenges as EP president was dealing with the allegations of corruption, illegal lobbying and mismanagement of public funds of which several members of the European Parliament have been accused in the wake of a cash-for-amendments scandal. On 7 July 2011, theConference of Presidents approved the first-ever code of conduct for MEPs and it was officially endorsed by the parliament on 1 December 2011.[20] The code sets out rules and principles that MEPs should follow in their dealings with outside parties in order to avoid conflicts of interest. "Increased powers of the European Parliament must be accompanied by an increased transparency and accountability on behalf of its members" Buzek has said of the code.[21] According to the code, MEPs have to provide clear declarations of their paid activities outside parliament, as well as the salary they receive. They also have to declare all other activities which might constitute a conflict of interest. The code contains an explicit ban on MEPs receiving payments or other rewards in exchange for influencing parliamentary decisions. It also sets out clear rules on the acceptance of gifts and on the issue of former MEPs working aslobbyists.[22]
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
He is a supporter ofRuch Chorzów.[24]
Knight Grand Cross of theOrder of Isabella the Catholic (Kingdom of Spain, 11 May 2001).[25]
European Union:In 2020, he received the Outstanding Achievement Award at The Parliament Magazine's MEP Awards.[26]
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Prime Minister of Poland 1997–2001 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | President of the European Parliament 2009–2012 | Succeeded by |
| Academic offices | ||
| Preceded by | Invocation Speaker of theCollege of Europe 2009 | Succeeded by |
| Common Assembly: 1952–1958 | |
|---|---|
| Parliamentary Assembly: 1958–1962 | |
| European Parliament (appointed): 1962–1979 | |
| European Parliament (elected): 1979–present | |
 Currentmembers of the European Parliament fromPoland (2019–2024) | |
|---|---|
|
| List of members of theEuropean People's Party group (2019–2024) | |
|---|---|
| Austria | |
| Belgium | |
| Bulgaria | |
| Croatia | |
| Cyprus | |
| Czech Republic | |
| Denmark | |
| Estonia | |
| Finland | |
| France | |
| Germany | |
| Greece | |
| Hungary | |
| Ireland | |
| Italy | |
| Latvia | |
| Lithuania | |
| Luxembourg | |
| Malta | |
| Netherlands | |
| Poland | |
| Portugal | |
| Romania | |
| Slovakia | |
| Slovenia | |
| Spain | |
| Sweden | |
