Josef Zieleniec (born 28 May 1946) is a

Czech Czech may refer to: * Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe ** Czech language ** Czechs, the people of the area ** Czech culture ** Czech cuisine * One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus' Places *Czech, ...

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

and former

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 ...

. From 2004, was a member of the

SNK European Democrats The SNK European Democrats ( cs, SNK Evropští demokraté) is a political party in the Czech Republic, led by Zdeňka Marková. The first regular chairperson of this party was Jana Hybášková. The party was created in January 2006 by the m ...

(SNK-ED). In the

European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the 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 adopts ...

, he was a member 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 ...

and served on the

's Committee on Foreign Affairs and

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 ...

. Zieleniec is currently a lecturer at the Prague academic center of

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then-Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, the ...

Early life and education

Zieleniec was born in

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

to Polish parents. He received his Master's degree in 1974 from the

University of Economics, Prague The Prague University of Economics and Business (PUEB) (originally: ''the University of Economics, Prague''; '' cs, Vysoká škola ekonomická v Praze, VŠE'') is a triple crown accredited economics and business-oriented public university loc ...

, and in 1986 received a postgraduate

Candidate of Science Candidate of Sciences (russian: кандидат наук, translit=kandidat nauk) is the first of two doctoral level scientific degrees in Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States. It is formally classified as UNESCO's ISCED level 8, "do ...

from the

Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences The Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences (Czech: ''Československá akademie věd'', Slovak: ''Česko-slovenská akadémia vied'') was established in 1953 to be the scientific center for Czechoslovakia. It was succeeded by the Czech Academy of Science ...

in Prague.

Academic career

Zieleniec spent most of his professional career as an

economist An economist is a professional and practitioner in the social sciences, social science discipline of economics. The individual may also study, develop, and apply theories and concepts from economics and write about economic policy. Within this ...

. From 1973 until the fall of the communist regime in 1989, he worked first as a research fellow in the Institute of Research in Engineering Technology and Economics Research, and later at the Institute of Economics of the

. Apart from research in microeconomic theory, he worked on the problems of economic transition from a centrally planned to

market economy A market economy is an economic system in which the decisions regarding investment, production and distribution to the consumers are guided by the price signals created by the forces of supply and demand, where all suppliers and consumers ...

. The study "Czechoslovakia at the crossroads", based on his research, had a significant impact on the discussions about economic reforms after 1989. At the beginning of 1990 Zieleniec co-founded the Center for Economic Research and Graduate Education, the first American-style economics doctoral program in Central and Eastern Europe, at

Charles University ) , image_name = Carolinum_Logo.svg , image_size = 200px , established = , type = Public, Ancient , budget = 8.9 billion CZK , rector = Milena Králíčková , faculty = 4,057 , administrative_staff = 4,026 , students = 51,438 , undergr ...

in Prague. He became its first director, and was also appointed senior lecturer in

economics Economics () is the social science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and intera ...

and joined the Scientific Council of the Faculty of Social Sciences at

. From 1998–2003 he was a businessman.

Political career

From 1992–1997 he was Vice-Chairman of the Civic Democratic Party (ODS). In 1992 he was appointed Minister for Foreign Relations of Czechoslovakia. From 1993–1997 he was Foreign Minister of the Czech Republic, and from 1996–1997 he was

Deputy Prime Minister A deputy prime minister or vice prime minister is, in some countries, a government minister who can take the position of acting prime minister when the prime minister is temporarily absent. The position is often likened to that of a vice president, ...

of the Czech Republic. He was a Member of the

Chamber of Deputies of the Czech Republic The Chamber of Deputies, officially the Chamber of Deputies of the Parliament of the Czech Republic ( cs, Poslanecká sněmovna Parlamentu České republiky), is the lower house of the Parliament of the Czech Republic. The chamber has 200 seats ...

between 1996 and 2000, and in 2000 he was elected for a four-year term to the

Czech Senate The Senate (), literally "Senate of the Parliament of the Czech Republic", is the upper house of the Parliament of the Czech Republic. The seat of the Senate is Wallenstein Palace in Prague. Structure The Senate has 81 members, chosen in s ...

. Since 2004 he has been the political leader of the

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Zieleniec, Josef 1946 births Foreign Ministers of the Czech Republic Czech people of Polish descent Civic Democratic Party (Czech Republic) MPs SNK European Democrats MEPs Living people MEPs for the Czech Republic 2004–2009 Prague University of Economics and Business alumni Politicians from Moscow Members of the Senate of the Czech Republic Civic Democratic Party (Czech Republic) Government ministers

Early life and education

Academic career

Political career

See also

References

External links