Pavel Telička (born 21 August 1965) is a Czech lobbyist, politician and Member of the European Parliament (MEP) from the Czech Republic. He previously served as European Commissioner for Health and Consumer Protection from May 2004 to November 2004. He was a member of ANO 2011, part of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe, until 2017 when he quit amid disagreements with leader Andrej Babiš.
Pavel Telička | |
|---|---|
 Telička in 2020 | |
| Member of the European Parliament | |
| In office 1 July 2014 – 1 July 2019 | |
| Constituency | Czech Republic |
| European Commissioner for Health and Consumer Protection | |
| In office 1 May 2004 – 22 November 2004 | |
| President | Romano Prodi |
| Preceded by | David Byrne |
| Succeeded by | Markos Kyprianou |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 21 August 1965 Washington, D.C., U.S. |
| Political party |  Czech:ANO 2011 (2014–2017) HLAS (since 2019)  EU:Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe |
| Spouse | Eva Teličková |
| Children | 2 |
| Alma mater | Charles University |
He served as a Vice President of the European Parliament from January 2017 until 2019.
Early life
editTelička was born in Washington, D.C. in 1965, the son of a communist diplomat. As a young man, he was a member of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia.[1] He graduated from the Faculty of Law, Charles University in Prague,[2] in 1986, and began working at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In the following years, he held various positions in the ministry, including as Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, and in the Czech Mission to the European Union in Brussels. From 1998 onwards, he served as chief negotiator for the accession of the Czech Republic to the European Union.[3]
European Union
editIn February 2004, the Czech government nominated Miloš Kužvart, the former Czech Environment Minister, as a candidate for the EU commissioner. Kužvart, however, stepped down after his first visit as a candidate to Brussels, and Telička was drafted in to replace him.
When the Czech Republic entered the EU on 1 May 2004, Telička became a commissioner in the Prodi Commission, sharing the portfolio of Health and Consumer Protection with David Byrne. He held this post only until November 2004, and did not continue in the following Barroso Commission due to a Czech government crisis in summer 2004. He was succeeded as the Czech Republic's commissioner by Vladimír Špidla, the former Prime Minister who resigned during the crisis.[3]
In December 2004, Telička co-founded BXL Consulting with offices in Prague and Brussels, providing consultancy in EU affairs. As of 2014, the company is no longer active.[4][5] In 2013, he supported ANO 2011,[6] led by Andrej Babiš, in the Czech parliament elections;[7] he was the party's candidate in the 2014 European Parliament election.[8] Since his election in July 2014, he was a vice-chair of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe[9] until the 2019 European Parliament election.[10] In June 2019, he was elected the first leader of the HLAS party.[11]
He was also elected president of the Czech Rugby Union in November 2009.[12]
References
edit- ^ "Telička v EP: členství v KSČ byl hřích mládí". Novinky.cz (in Czech). Retrieved 28 March 2018.
- ^ "Telička, Pavel". Mzv.cz (in Czech). Retrieved 4 May 2022.
- ^ a b "Welcome to British Council - Turkey". 23 February 2012. Archived from the original on 23 February 2012. Retrieved 23 October 2017.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) - ^ "Pavel Telička přešel k lobbistům". iDNES.cz. 11 December 2004. Retrieved 23 October 2017.
- ^ "Termination | BXL.cz". Archived from the original on 20 February 2014. Retrieved 21 February 2014.
- ^ "Bývalý eurokomisař Telička jde do Babišova ANO". Aktuálně.cz (in Czech). 29 August 2013. Retrieved 4 May 2022.
- ^ "Europoslanec Telička opouští hnutí ANO, s Babišem se názorově rozešel". iDNES.cz (in Czech). 11 October 2017. Retrieved 4 May 2022.
- ^ "Bývalý eurokomisař Telička jde k Babišovi do hnutí ANO". Deník.cz. 29 August 2013. Retrieved 23 October 2017.
- ^ Profile on the website of the European Parliament
- ^ "Europoslanci Telička a Ježek zakládají nové politické hnutí HLAS". iDNES.cz (in Czech). 5 February 2019. Retrieved 4 May 2022.
- ^ "Rejstřík politických stran a hnutí - Ministerstvo vnitra České republiky". aplikace.mvcr.cz. Retrieved 4 May 2022.
- ^ "Česká Rugbyová Unie (Czech Rugby Union)". Archived from the original on 19 December 2009. Retrieved 23 October 2017.