Petr Mach (born 6 May 1975) 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, ...

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 ...

and former Member of the European Parliament. He is the founder of the

Party of Free Citizens A party is a gathering of people who have been invited by a host for the purposes of socializing, conversation, recreation, or as part of a festival or other commemoration or celebration of a special occasion. A party will often feature ...

which he led until 2017 when he was replaced by Tomáš Pajonk.

Early career

In 1997, Mach became chairman of the Young Conservatives, the youth wing of the Civic Democratic Party (ODS). In 2003 he earned a

PhD PHD or PhD may refer to: * Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), an academic qualification Entertainment * '' PhD: Phantasy Degree'', a Korean comic series * ''Piled Higher and Deeper'', a web comic * Ph.D. (band), a 1980s British group ** Ph.D. (Ph.D. albu ...

from the Department of Monetary Theory and Policy of 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 ...

. Mach worked as an executive director of the Center for Economics and Politics in Prague from 1999 to 2009, and as an external economic adviser to

Czech President The president of the Czech Republic is the head of state of the Czech Republic and the commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of the Czech Republic. The president mostly has ceremonial powers as the day-to-day business of the executive governm ...

Václav Klaus Václav Klaus (; born 19 June 1941) is a Czech economist and politician who served as the second president of the Czech Republic from 2003 to 2013. From July 1992 until the dissolution of Czechoslovakia in January 1993, he served as the secon ...

from 2003 to 2007, with whom he shares enthusiasm for the

free market In economics, a free market is an economic system in which the prices of goods and services are determined by supply and demand expressed by sellers and buyers. Such markets, as modeled, operate without the intervention of government or any o ...

economy and

euroscepticism Euroscepticism, also spelled as Euroskepticism or EU-scepticism, is a political position involving criticism of the European Union (EU) and European integration. It ranges from those who oppose some EU institutions and policies, and seek reform ...

. Since 1998 he has been the publisher and editor of the ''Laissez-Faire'' newsletter.

Party of Free Citizens

Mach left ODS at the end of 2007, and after the party moved to a position of support for the

Treaty of Lisbon The Treaty of Lisbon (initially known as the Reform Treaty) is an international agreement that amends the two treaties which form the constitutional basis of the European Union (EU). The Treaty of Lisbon, which was signed by the EU member sta ...

, on 4 December 2008, Mach decided to form a new party, founding the

in 2009. In September 2010, he addressed the

UK Independence Party The UK Independence Party (UKIP; ) is a Eurosceptic, right-wing populist political party in the United Kingdom. The party reached its greatest level of success in the mid-2010s, when it gained two members of Parliament and was the largest par ...

Annual Conference and praised Václav Klaus for his opposition to the Lisbon Treaty. He addressed the party's conference again in 2014, following their victory in the

2014 European elections Fourteen or 14 may refer to: * 14 (number), the natural number following 13 and preceding 15 * one of the years 14 BC, AD 14, 1914, 2014 Music * 14th (band), a British electronic music duo * ''14'' (David Garrett album), 2013 *''14'', an unrel ...

in the UK.

Later career

In 2019, Mach was announced as a member of the

Tricolour Citizens' Movement The Tricolour Citizens' Movement ( cs, Trikolóra hnutí občanů, Trikolóra) is a Hard Euroscepticism, hard Eurosceptic, Fiscal conservatism, fiscally conservative, and National conservatism, national-conservative List of political parties in the ...

, and addressed their party conference in

Brno Brno ( , ; german: Brünn ) is a city in the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic. Located at the confluence of the Svitava and Svratka rivers, Brno has about 380,000 inhabitants, making it the second-largest city in the Czech Republic ...

in September 2019.

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mach, Petr 21st-century Czech economists Czech libertarians Politicians from Prague 1975 births Living people MEPs for the Czech Republic 2014–2019 Tricolour Citizens' Movement politicians Svobodní MEPs Civic Democratic Party (Czech Republic) politicians Prague University of Economics and Business alumni Leaders of Svobodní Young Conservatives (Czech Republic) politicians