Dubravka Šuica (; ; born 20 May 1957) is a Croatian politician of the

centre-right Centre-right politics is the set of right-wing politics, right-wing political ideologies that lean closer to the political centre. It is commonly associated with conservatism, Christian democracy, liberal conservatism, and conservative liberalis ...

Croatian Democratic Union The Croatian Democratic Union (, , HDZ) is a major conservative, centre-right political party in Croatia. Since 2016, it has been the ruling political party in Croatia under the incumbent Prime Minister Andrej Plenković. It is one of the ...

(HDZ) who was

Vice-President of the European Commission A Vice-President of the European Commission is a member of the European Commission who leads the commission's work in particular focus areas in which multiple European Commissioners participate. Currently, the European Commission has a total of ...

and the Commissioner for Democracy and Demography from 2019 to 2024. She previously served as a member of the

European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the two legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it ...

from 2013 to 2019. Since December 2024 she serves as the European Commissioner for

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern ...

in the

Von der Leyen Commission II The second von der Leyen Commission is the current European Commission, in office since 1 December 2024. It consists of one commissioner from each of the member states of the European Union – including Ursula von der Leyen, its President of t ...

. She served two consecutive terms as mayor of Dubrovnik between 2001 and 2009. She was the first female mayor of Dubrovnik and one of the first female mayors of major Croatian cities in modern

Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...

. She served as a member of the

Croatian Parliament The Croatian Parliament () or the Sabor is the Unicameralism, unicameral legislature of Croatia. Under the terms of the Constitution of Croatia, Croatian Constitution, the Sabor represents the nation, people and is vested with legislative power. ...

in three terms from 2001 to 2011. Since 2004, she has been elected five times in a row as vice-president of the

Congress of Local and Regional Authorities The Congress of Local and Regional Authorities is the pan-European political assembly representing local and regional authorities from the forty-six member states of the Council of Europe. Its role is to promote local and regional democracy, imp ...

of the

Council of Europe The Council of Europe (CoE; , CdE) is an international organisation with the goal of upholding human rights, democracy and the Law in Europe, rule of law in Europe. Founded in 1949, it is Europe's oldest intergovernmental organisation, represe ...

. In October 2012, she was elected vice-president of the EPP Women's association and in June 2019 vice-president of the EPP's EU parliament group.

Biography

Dubravka Šuica was born in

Dubrovnik Dubrovnik, historically known as Ragusa, is a city in southern Dalmatia, Croatia, by the Adriatic Sea. It is one of the most prominent tourist destinations in the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean, a Port, seaport and the centre of the Dubrovni ...

. She graduated from the Zagreb Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences in 1981, majoring in English and literature and

German language German (, ) is a West Germanic language in the Indo-European language family, mainly spoken in Western Europe, Western and Central Europe. It is the majority and Official language, official (or co-official) language in Germany, Austria, Switze ...

. Before her political career, Dubravka Šuica worked for 20 years as a high school teacher, university professor and principal in Dubrovnik. She became active in politics in 1990, joining

(HDZ) before the first democratic elections in Croatia. Since 1998, she served as head of HDZ Dubrovnik branch up until 2014. In 2001, Šuica was elected as first ever female mayor of Dubrovnik. She was re-elected in 2005 and served as the mayor till 2009. She was elected as the member of

three times, in the

2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...

2003 2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater. In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War. Demographic ...

and

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

parliamentary elections. She held several positions in Croatian Parliament Committees. She was Chairwoman of the committee, Family, Youth and Sports (2000–2003) and also vice-chairwoman of the Committee on European Affairs during the Croatia's accession period (2007–2011). In 2004, Dubravka Šuica was elected one of the vice-presidents of the

of the

. She was reelected to that position in 2006, 2008, 2010 and 2012. In May 2012, Dubravka Šuica was elected vice-president of the HDZ at the national level. She was also the president of the Foreign and European Affairs Committee of HDZ. In October 2012, she was elected vice-president of ''EPP Women'' and she still holds this position. In the 2013 European election, Dubravka Šuica was elected

Member of the European Parliament A member of the European Parliament (MEP) is a person who has been Election, elected to serve as a popular representative in the European Parliament. When the European Parliament (then known as the Common Assembly of the European Coal and S ...

. She was sworn in on 1 July 2013, after

joined the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

. She was re-elected MEP following the 2014 European election, placing 2nd on the HDZ list. She served as one of the deputy chairs of the EP's Delegation for relations with

Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina, sometimes known as Bosnia-Herzegovina and informally as Bosnia, is a country in Southeast Europe. Situated on the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula, it borders Serbia to the east, Montenegro to the southeast, and Croatia to th ...

, and

Kosovo Kosovo, officially the Republic of Kosovo, is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe with International recognition of Kosovo, partial diplomatic recognition. It is bordered by Albania to the southwest, Montenegro to the west, Serbia to the ...

(DSEE), as well as taking part in various committees such as ENVI, AFET where she served as vice-president from 2016 to 2019, TRAN, FEMM and the Delegation for relations with the United States (D-US).European Parliament – Šuica
/ref> Dubravka Šuica was re-elected MEP at the 2019 election, for the third consecutive time. In June 2019, she was elected as first vice-president of the

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

(EPP) in European Parliament. As of 2013 to 2019, she was also head of the Croatian EPP delegation in the Parliament. In August 2019, Dubravka Šuica was nominated as a candidate for European Commissioner from Croatia, and on 10 July 2019 President-elect

Ursula von der Leyen Ursula Gertrud von der Leyen (; ; born 8 October 1958) is a German politician, serving as president of the European Commission since 2019. She served in the Cabinet of Germany, German federal government between 2005 and 2019, holding position ...

assigned her the role of

Vice-President A vice president or vice-president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vi ...

designate for Democracy and Demography. From 1 December 2019 to 1 December 2024, she was Vice President of the European Commission and the Commissioner for Democracy and Demography.

References

External links

European Parliament MEP profileProfile
at the

website
* Personal webpage
{{DEFAULTSORT:Suica, Dubravka 1957 births Congress of the Council of Europe Croatian Democratic Union MEPs Croatian Democratic Union politicians Croatian educators Croatian European commissioners Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Zagreb alumni Living people Mayors of Dubrovnik MEPs for Croatia 2013–2014 MEPs for Croatia 2014–2019 MEPs for Croatia 2019–2024 Representatives in the modern Croatian Parliament Women European commissioners Women mayors of places in Croatia Women MEPs for Croatia European commissioners (2019–2024) European commissioners (2024–2029)