Michal Šimečka (born May 10, 1984 in

Bratislava Bratislava (, also ; ; german: Preßburg/Pressburg ; hu, Pozsony) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Slovakia. Officially, the population of the city is about 475,000; however, it is estimated to be more than 660,000 — approxim ...

) is a Slovak politician, journalist, researcher, and a

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. He is the vice president, and one of the founding members, of the liberal party

Progressive Slovakia Progressive Slovakia ( sk, Progresívne Slovensko) is a social-liberal, progressive, pro-European political party in Slovakia established in 2017. The party is led by European Parliament vice-president Michal Šimečka. In the European Parliam ...

, having successfully led the party's candidate list in the 2019 elections, where they received the highest percentage of the national vote. In February 2020, Šimečka was elected as vice president of the liberal fraction

Renew Europe Renew Europe (Renew) is a liberal, pro-European political group of the European Parliament founded for the ninth European Parliament term. The group is the successor to the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE) group which exist ...

Early life and education

Šimečka earned a bachelor's degree in political sciences and international relations from the

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 ...

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...

in 2006. He then obtained an

MPhil The Master of Philosophy (MPhil; Latin ' or ') is a postgraduate degree. In the United States, an MPhil typically includes a taught portion and a significant research portion, during which a thesis project is conducted under supervision. An MPhil m ...

in Russian and East European Studies at

St Antony's College St Antony's College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. Founded in 1950 as the result of the gift of French merchant Sir Antonin Besse of Aden, St Antony's specialises in international relations, economic ...

at the

University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...

in 2008, before moving to

Nuffield College Nuffield College () is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. It is a graduate college and specialises in the social sciences, particularly economics, politics and sociology. Nuffield is one of Oxford's newer co ...

, where he received a

DPhil A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is a ...

in Politics and International Relations in 2012.

Early career

After his studies, Šimečka worked as a lecturer in Prague and Bratislava. He was an adviser on foreign policy in the European Parliament from 2011 to 2014. Šimečka also worked in the

Centre for European Policy Studies The Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS) is a think tank based in Brussels, Belgium that undertakes research "leading to solutions to the challenges facing Europe today". It was established in 1983. Organisation CEPS is a leading think tan ...

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

from 2013, before moving to the

Institute of International Relations Prague The Institute of International Relations Prague (IIR) is a public research institution that produces basic and applied scientific research in the field of international relations. Dr. Ondřej Ditrych is the director of the IIR. The founder of th ...

as a researcher in 2015. As a journalist, Šimečka wrote for the Slovak newspaper ''

SME SME may refer to: Economics * Small and medium-sized enterprises * Socialist market economy, an economic system of China Organizations Music * SME Limited, UK audio turntable manufacturer * Sony Music Entertainment, US * Spontaneous Music Ensembl ...

'' from 2002 to 2004, then for ''

Financial Times The ''Financial Times'' (''FT'') is a British daily newspaper printed in broadsheet and published digitally that focuses on business and economic current affairs. Based in London, England, the paper is owned by a Japanese holding company, Nik ...

'' from 2004 to 2006.

Member of the European Parliament, 2019–present

In parliament, Šimečka serves on the

Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs The Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (LIBE) is a committee of the European Parliament that is responsible for protecting civil liberties and human rights, as listed in the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union. ...

. In addition to his committee assignments, he is part of the parliament's delegations to the EU-Ukraine Parliamentary Association Committee and to the

Euronest Parliamentary Assembly The Euronest Parliamentary Assembly is the inter-parliamentary forum in which members of the European Parliament and the national parliaments of Ukraine, Moldova, Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia participate and forge closer political and economic ...

. He is also a member of the

European Parliament Intergroup on LGBT Rights The European Parliament Intergroup on LGBTI Rights is an intergroup Intergroups are formed of Members of the European Parliament from any political group and any committee, with a view to holding informal exchanges of views on particular subjects ...

and the European Parliament Intergroup on Traditional Minorities, National Communities and Languages. From 2020 until 2021, Šimečka served as deputy chair of the

parliamentary group, under the leadership of chair

Dacian Cioloș Dacian Julien Cioloș (; born 27 July 1969) is a Romanian agronomist who served as Prime Minister of Romania from November 2015 to January 2017. He previously served as Agriculture Minister under Călin Popescu-Tăriceanu between October 2007 and ...

. In November 2019, Šimečka was elected

rapporteur A rapporteur is a person who is appointed by an organization to report on the proceedings of its meetings. The term is a French-derived word. For example, Dick Marty was appointed ''rapporteur'' by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Euro ...

on the establishment of an EU Mechanism on Democracy, the Rule of Law and Fundamental Rights. In October 2020, he presented his proposal for a mechanism combining several tools which monitor the respect of rule of law and European values, which received majority support 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 ...

. Šimečka argued that the EU should do more to address the abuse of EU funding, writing that "an implicit bargain between net contributors and net recipients – we pay for market access, you are free to abuse funds" should end.

Personal life

Šimečka is the son of journalist

Martin Milan Šimečka Martin Milan Šimečka (born 3 November 1957) is a Slovak journalist and writer. Life and career Martin Milan Šimečka is the son of , a prominent Czech dissident during the Communist regime. He received technical training at the Slovnaft plan ...

and a grandson of philosopher, writer and dissident . He lives in

with his partner Soňa and their daughter Táňa.

References

External links

Official Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Simecka, Michal 1984 births Living people Politicians from Bratislava Charles University alumni Alumni of St Antony's College, Oxford Alumni of Nuffield College, Oxford Slovak journalists Progressive Slovakia politicians MEPs for Slovakia 2019–2024