Bendt Bendtsen (born 25 March 1954) is a

Danish Danish may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark People * A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark * Culture of Denmark * Danish people or Danes, people with a Danish a ...

politician who served as

Member of the European Parliament A Member of the European Parliament (MEP) is a person who has been elected to serve as a popular representative in the European Parliament. When the European Parliament (then known as the Common Assembly of the ECSC) first met in 1952, its ...

(MEP) from 2009 until 2019. He was the leader of the Conservative People's Party from 1999 to 2008, and served as Minister of Economic and Business Affairs. As a MEP, he was part of the

European People's Party The European People's Party (EPP) is a European political party with Christian-democratic, conservative, and liberal-conservative member parties. A transnational organisation, it is composed of other political parties. Founded by primarily Ch ...

. Before being elected, Bendtsen worked as a member of Odense's police force; he became a member of the Odense City Council in 1989, and he was Vice-Chairman of the Odense Criminal Police Association from 1989 to 1992.

Political career

Member of the Folketing

Bendtsen was a temporary member of the Folketing for the Conservative Party, representing Funen County constituency, from 5 April to 24 April 1994, and he was subsequently elected as a Conservative member of the Folketing from Funen County constituency in the

parliamentary election A general election is a political voting election where generally all or most members of a given political body are chosen. These are usually held for a nation, state, or territory's primary legislative body, and are different from by-elections ( ...

held on 21 September 1994. In the November 2007 parliamentary election he was elected from the Funen greater constituency.

Minister of Economy

Following the November 2001 parliamentary election, Bendt Bendtsen became Minister for Economic and Business Affairs and Minister for Nordic Cooperation on 27 November 2001 in the

Cabinet of Anders Fogh Rasmussen I After the 2001 Danish parliamentary election, Anders Fogh Rasmussen was able form a government coalition of his own Liberal Party Venstre and the Conservative People's Party. It was a minority government with the parliamentary support of the Dan ...

. He left the post of Minister for Nordic Cooperation on 18 June 2002, but remained Minister for Economic and Business Affairs. He retained the latter post in the

Cabinet of Anders Fogh Rasmussen II Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filing ...

(2005) and III (2007). On 9 September 2008, he tendered his resignation as leader of the party, which then elected

Lene Espersen Lene Espersen (born 26 September 1965) is a former Danish politician, a former leader of Conservative People's Party and a former Minister of Justice. She is the current CEO at the Danish Association of Architectural Firms. From 1 July 2016 to J ...

as leader, also resigning from his post as minister.

European Parliament

Bendt Bendtsen was elected

in the

2009 elections The following elections occurred in the year 2009. * Electoral calendar 2009 * 2009 United Nations Security Council election Caribbean * 2009 Antiguan general election * 2009 Aruban general election * 2009 Caymanian constitutional referendu ...

. Throughout his time in parliament, he served as member of the

Committee on Industry, Research and Energy The Committee on Industry, Research and Energy (ITRE) is a committee of the European Parliament. Its areas of responsibility relate to industry, especially technology-intensive manufacturing, information technology, and telecommunications. It also ...

(ITRE). He was also a substitute member in the

Committee on Budgets The Committee on Budgets (BUDG) is a committee of the European Parliament. It has 41 members plus 39 substitute members. The committee's current chair is Jean Arthuis, who has held this position since 7 July 2014.European People's Party The European People's Party (EPP) is a European political party with Christian-democratic, conservative, and liberal-conservative member parties. A transnational organisation, it is composed of other political parties. Founded by primarily Ch ...

, which is the biggest political group in the parliament. In addition to his committee assignments, Bendtsen was a member of the Parliament's delegation for relations with

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

from 2014 until 2019. In May 2012, he founded together with the Austrian MEP

Paul Rübig Paul Rübig (born 6 May 1953) is an Austrian politician who served as a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) from 1996 until 2019. He is a member of the Austrian People's Party, part of the European People's Party. Rübig became a Member o ...

and the Bulgarian MEP Nadezdha Neynsky a new organization called

SME Europe SME Europe (Small and Medium Entrepreneurs Europe) is the official business association of the European People's Party with the aim of defending the interests of small and medium-sized enterprises at European level. The organisation was founded in ...

, the pro-business organization within the

, which aims at improving the situation of small and medium-sized enterprises all across Europe. He held the position of First Vice-President. He was also a supporter of the MEP Heart Group, a group of parliamentarians who have an interest in promoting measures that help reduce the burden of

cardiovascular disease Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is a class of diseases that involve the heart or blood vessels. CVD includes coronary artery diseases (CAD) such as angina and myocardial infarction (commonly known as a heart attack). Other CVDs include stroke, h ...

s (CVD).

Other activities

European Bank for Reconstruction and Development The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is an international financial institution founded in 1991. As a multilateral developmental investment bank, the EBRD uses investment as a tool to build market economies. Initially focus ...

(EBRD), Ex-Officio Member of the Board of Governors (2001-2008) *

European Investment Bank The European Investment Bank (EIB) is the European Union's investment bank and is owned by the EU Member States. It is one of the largest supranational lenders in the world. The EIB finances and invests both through equity and debt solutions ...

(EIB), Ex-Officio Member of the Board of Governors (2001-2008)2007 Annual Report

(EIB).

References

Sources

History of the Conservative People's Party
- From their official webpage.

External links

Bendt Bendtsen's homepage

English part of Bendt Bendtsen's homepage

Bendt Bendtsen's page on the European Parliament website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bendtsen, Bendt 1954 births Government ministers of Denmark Living people People from Odense Members of the Folketing 1994–1998 Members of the Folketing 1998–2001 Members of the Folketing 2001–2005 Members of the Folketing 2005–2007 Members of the Folketing 2007–2011 Conservative People's Party (Denmark) MEPs MEPs for Denmark 2009–2014 MEPs for Denmark 2014–2019 Danish police officers Leaders of the Conservative People's Party (Denmark)