Ylva Julia Margareta Johansson (born 13 February 1964) is a Swedish
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 ...
who has been serving as
European Commissioner for Home Affairs
A portfolio in the European Commission is an area of responsibility assigned to a European Commissioner, usually connected to one or several Directorates-General (DGs).
Portfolios Agriculture
The Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Devel ...
member
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* Military jury, referred to as "Members" in military jargon
* Element (mathematics), an object that belongs to a mathematical set
* In object-oriented programming, a member of a class
** Field (computer science), entries in ...
of the
Swedish Riksdag
The Riksdag (, ; also sv, riksdagen or ''Sveriges riksdag'' ) is the legislature and the supreme decision-making body of Sweden. Since 1971, the Riksdag has been a unicameral legislature with 349 members (), elected proportionally and se ...
since 2006.
Education and early career
Johansson studied at
Lund University
, motto = Ad utrumque
, mottoeng = Prepared for both
, established =
, type = Public research university
, budget = SEK 9 billion Stockholm Institute of Education between 1983–88 and 1991–92 respectively, and holds a
Master of Science
A Master of Science ( la, Magisterii Scientiae; abbreviated MS, M.S., MSc, M.Sc., SM, S.M., ScM or Sc.M.) is a master's degree in the field of science awarded by universities in many countries or a person holding such a degree. In contrast t ...
degree in education. Upon graduating, she worked as a math, physics, and chemistry teacher.Meet the commissioners ''
Politico Europe
''Politico Europe'' (stylized as ''POLITICO Europe'') is the European edition of the German-owned news organization ''Politico'' reporting on political affairs of the European Union. Its headquarters are located in Brussels with additional offices ...
member
Member may refer to:
* Military jury, referred to as "Members" in military jargon
* Element (mathematics), an object that belongs to a mathematical set
* In object-oriented programming, a member of a class
** Field (computer science), entries in ...
of the Riksdag for the Left Party - Communists (VPK). She later left the party and joined the Social Democrats.
From 1992 to 1994 Johansson worked as a teacher, until
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 i ...
Ingvar Carlsson
Gösta Ingvar Carlsson (born 9 November 1934) is a Swedish politician who twice served as Prime Minister of Sweden, first from 1986 to 1991 and again from 1994 to 1996. He was leader of the Swedish Social Democratic Party from 1986 to 1996. He ...
made her Minister for Schools in his government. In 1998, she and the then Minister for Finance Erik Åsbrink announced their wish to "publicly confirm that we are in love" and their intention to separate from their respective partners. Soon afterwards, Johansson left the government. The following years, she worked in the private sector.
In 2004, Prime Minister
Göran Persson
Hans Göran Persson (; born 20 January 1949) is a Swedish politician who served as Prime Minister of Sweden from 1996 to 2006 and leader of the Swedish Social Democratic Party from 1996 to 2007.
Persson was first elected to the Swedish Parliam ...
appointed Johansson to the government in a new position, as Minister for Health and Elderly Care, succeeding
Lars Engqvist
Lars Engqvist (born 13 August 1945) is a Swedish politician. He served as chairman of the youth organization of the Swedish Social Democrats from 1972 to 1978, and then worked as a journalist. He was the editor-in-chief of '' Arbetet'', a Malmö- ...
government
A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state.
In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is ...
of
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 i ...
Stefan Löfven
Kjell Stefan Löfven (; officially ''Löfvén''; born 21 July 1957) is a Swedish politician who serves as the President of European Socialists since October 2022. He previously served as Prime Minister of Sweden from October 2014 to November 20 ...
Reuters
Reuters ( ) is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters Corporation. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide. Reuters is one of the largest news agencies in the world.
The agency was esta ...
''.
In the 2013 Social Democrat party congress, the goal was set that Sweden should have the lowest rate of unemployment in the EU. While the Social Democrats and Green Party were in power, unemployment decreased more in other EU countries than Sweden and by 2019, Sweden's place in the unemployment ranking slipped to 18 with an unemployment rate of 6.2%, where the first spot was occupied by
Czech Republic
The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...
at 1.7%.
Member of the European Commission, 2019–present
Following the 2019 European elections, Löfven nominated Johansson as Sweden's candidate for the post of European Commissioner.
During a question & answer session in October 2019 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 ...
, Johansson was asked on whether Swedish policy on gang crime and migration would be exported to the EU level. Johansson responded that she was "proud that Sweden received so many refugees".
In early March 2020, Johansson was appointed by
President
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*President (corporate title)
* President (education), a leader of a college or university
* President (government title)
President may also refer to:
Automobiles
* Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...
Ursula von der Leyen
Ursula Gertrud von der Leyen (; Albrecht, born 8 October 1958) is a German politician who has been serving as the president of the European Commission since 2019. She served in the German federal government between 2005 and 2019, holding suc ...
to serve on a special task force to coordinate the European Union's response to the
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...
.
Political positions
Johansson has been described as the "left wing of the Social Democrats".
In a September 2020 EU debate on the new migration pact she said "we have a lot of migration to the European Union, and we need that" because of the
ageing of Europe
The ageing of Europe, also known as the greying of Europe, is a demographic phenomenon in Europe characterised by a decrease in fertility, a decrease in mortality rate, and a higher life expectancy among European populations. Low birth rates an ...
, while also noting that "those that are not eligible to stay, they have to leave; not everybody that has a right to apply for asylum has the right to stay in the European Union".
In May 2022, Johansson proposed legislation to introduce an obligation for companies to monitor all private chat communication, including pictures, for possible hints at child abuse and report any findings to the authorities. The proposed legislation faced widespread criticism and was described as introducing mass surveillance. The scientific service of the German Bundestag evaluated the proposal and concluded it was illegal due to necessitating blanket surveillance of private communinication, the impossibility to differentiate legal and illegal communication and harmful effects on communication by and between children.
Personal life
Johansson has two children with her former husband Bo Hammar and a son with Erik Åsbrink. She is an honorary member of the Swedish football club Hammarby IF.