Eero Olavi Heinäluoma (born 4 July 1955 in

Kokkola Kokkola (; sv, Karleby, ) is a cities of Finland, town and municipalities of Finland, municipality of Finland. The town is located in the Central Ostrobothnia regions of Finland, region. The town has a population of () and covers an area of of ...

) is a Finnish politician who has been serving 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 ...

since 2019. A former chairman of the Finnish Social Democratic Party, he was replaced in the party's leadership by

Jutta Urpilainen Jutta Pauliina Urpilainen (born 4 August 1975 in Lapua) is a Finnish politician. She was the first female chairman of the Social Democratic Party of Finland, which she led from 2008 to 2014. She was the Minister of Finance of Finland from 2011 to ...

in June 2008. He was

Speaker of the Parliament of Finland The speaker of the Parliament of Finland (Finnish ''eduskunnan puhemies'', Swedish ''riksdagens talman''), along with two deputy speakers, is elected by Parliament during the first plenary session each year. Speakers are chosen for a year at a ti ...

2011–2015.

Early life and education

Heinäluoma has studied political sciences, but has not finished his degree.

Political career

Career in national politics

Heinäluoma was elected Chairman in June 2005, succeeding former

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

Paavo Lipponen Paavo Tapio Lipponen (; born 23 April 1941) is a Finnish politician and former reporter. He was Prime Minister of Finland from 1995 to 2003, and Chairman of the Social Democratic Party of Finland from 1993 to 2005. He also served as Speaker of the ...

. He was the

Minister of Finance A finance minister is an executive or cabinet position in charge of one or more of government finances, economic policy and financial regulation. A finance minister's portfolio has a large variety of names around the world, such as "treasury", " ...

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

from 2005 to 2007. Heinäluoma held various posts in the

Central Organisation of Finnish Trade Unions The Central Organisation of Finnish Trade Unions, usually referred to by the acronym SAK ( fi, Suomen Ammattiliittojen Keskusjärjestö; sv, Finlands Fackförbunds Centralorganisation, FFC) is the largest trade union confederation in Finland. Its ...

(SAK) from 1983 to 2003. He was a director in SAK from 2000 to 2003. Heinäluoma was appointed as party secretary in 2002 and in the 2003 elections, he was elected as a Member of Parliament from the Electoral District of

Uusimaa Uusimaa (; sv, Nyland, ; both lit. 'new land') is a region of Finland. It borders the regions of Southwest Finland, Tavastia Proper (Kanta-Häme), Päijänne Tavastia (Päijät-Häme), and Kymenlaakso. Finland's capital and largest city, He ...

. Ever since he took up the post of Party secretary he had, according to many, been groomed as Lipponen's heir. He won on the first ballot, getting 201 of 350 votes. His rivals were Foreign Minister Erkki Tuomioja, with 138 votes, and Minister of Education

Tuula Haatainen Tuula Irmeli Haatainen (born 11 February 1960) is a Finnish politician and a member of the Finnish Parliament, with the Social Democratic Party. She was the Minister of Education 2003–2005 and the Minister of Social Affairs and Health 2005–20 ...

, with 11 votes. As party chairman, Heinäluoma ordered a reshuffle of SDP cabinet ministers and assumed the position of Minister of Finance on 23 September 2005. In

2007 elections The following elections occurred in the year 2007. * Electoral calendar 2007 * Elections in 2007 * 2007 United Nations Security Council election Africa * 52nd National Conference of the African National Congress * 2007 Algerian legislative el ...

, the party led by Heinäluoma suffered a significant loss, losing 15% of their seats in the parliament, and having the worst result since 1962. The loss led to the resignation of Heinäluoma as the party chairman. Heinäluoma was elected as the chairman of the Social Democratic parliamentary group in February 2010 and served in that position until becoming Speaker in June 2011. In June 2016, Heinäluoma announced that he would not become his party's candidate for the 2018 presidential election due to his wife's recent death.

Member of the European Parliament, 2019–present

Heinäluoma became a

in the 2019 elections. He has since been serving as treasurer of the S&D Group, making him part of the leadership team around the group's chairwoman

Iratxe García Iratxe García Pérez (; born 7 October 1974) is a Spanish politician of the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE). She has served as Member of the European Parliament since 2004, and has served as the Leader of the Progressive Alliance of So ...

. Heinäluoma joined the

Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs The Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs (ECON) is a committee of the European Parliament which is responsible for the regulation of financial services, the free movement of capital and payments, taxation and competition policies, oversight ...

and the Parliament's delegation to the EU-Russia Parliamentary Cooperation Committee. He is also a member of the European Parliament Intergroup on Climate Change, Biodiversity and Sustainable Development, the European Parliament Intergroup on Trade Unions and the URBAN Intergroup.

Other activities

* National Audit Office of Finland (NAOF), Member of the Advisory Board (2017-2019)Advisory Board 2017-2019
National Audit Office of Finland (NAOF).

References

External links

Official Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Heinaluoma, Eero 1955 births Living people People from Kokkola Leaders of the Social Democratic Party of Finland Deputy Prime Ministers of Finland Ministers of Finance of Finland Speakers of the Parliament of Finland Members of the Parliament of Finland (2003–07) Members of the Parliament of Finland (2007–11) Members of the Parliament of Finland (2011–15) Members of the Parliament of Finland (2015–19) MEPs for Finland 2019–2024 Recipients of the Order of the Cross of Terra Mariana, 1st Class