Urszula Józefa Gacek (born 17 March 1963) is a Polish politician and a former member of 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 ...

, representing

Civic Platform Civic Platform ( pl, Platforma Obywatelska, PO)The party is officially the Civic Platform of the Republic of Poland (''Platforma Obywatelska Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej''). is a political party in Poland. It is currently led by Donald Tusk. It w ...

. Between 2014 and 2016 she was Consul General at the Consulate General of the Republic of Poland in New York City.

Early life

Gacek was born in

Urmston Urmston is a town in Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, which had a population of 41,825 at the 2011 Census. Historically in Lancashire, it is southwest of Manchester city centre. The southern boundary is the River Mersey, with Stretford ...

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancashi ...

, England, and studied at

Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

. She then worked as a financial analyst and as an author of chemical and energy publications before entering politics.

Political life

Gacek served as a member of the

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken *Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin screenwr ...

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

for the

party between 2005 and 2007. In 2007 she became a Member of the

and sat with her colleagues in the

EPP-ED The European People's Party Group (EPP Group) is a centre-right political group of the European Parliament consisting of deputies (MEPs) from the member parties of the European People's Party (EPP). Sometimes it also includes independent MEPs ...

group, serving, amongst others, on the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs and the Delegation for Relations with the USA. From 3 February 2011 to 30 November 2014 she was the Permanent Representative of the Republic of Poland to the

Council of Europe The Council of Europe (CoE; french: Conseil de l'Europe, ) is an international organisation founded in the wake of World War II to uphold European Convention on Human Rights, human rights, democracy and the Law in Europe, rule of law in Europe. ...

. Between 2014 and 2016 she was Consul General at the Consulate General of the Republic of Poland in New York City. She currently heads the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe's election observation mission to the United States.

References

External links

*
Council of Europe
1963 births Alumni of the University of Oxford Consuls-General of Poland Living people People from Urmston Women members of the Senate of Poland Members of the Senate of Poland 2005–2007 Civic Platform MEPs Permanent Representatives of Poland to the Council of Europe Polish women diplomats Women MEPs for Poland MEPs for Poland 2004–2009 Polish women ambassadors {{Poland-MEP-stub