Eija-Riitta Korhola (née Nieminen; born 15 June 1959 in

Lahti Lahti (; sv, Lahtis) is a city and municipality in Finland. It is the capital of the region of Päijänne Tavastia (Päijät-Häme) and its growing region is one of the main economic hubs of Finland. Lahti is situated on a bay at the southern e ...

) is a

Finnish Finnish may refer to: * Something or someone from, or related to Finland * Culture of Finland * Finnish people or Finns, the primary ethnic group in Finland * Finnish language, the national language of the Finnish people * Finnish cuisine See also ...

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 ...

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 ...

(MEP). She served three terms, first with the Finnish Christian Democrats between 1999–2003 and then with the

National Coalition Party sv, Samlingspartiet , leader1_title = Chairman , leader1_name = Petteri Orpo , leader2_title = Deputy chairs , leader2_name = Antti HäkkänenElina ValtonenAnna-Kaisa Ikonen , merger = Finnish Party, Young Finn ...

from 2004 to 2014, being part of the European People's Party the whole time. During her MEP years, Korhola served on the Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety. She was also a member of the

ACP–EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly The ACP–EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly was created to bring together the elected representatives of the European Union (the Members of the European Parliament) and the elected representatives of the African, Caribbean and Pacific states ("ACP c ...

, and acted as a deputy both in the

Committee on Budgetary Control The Committee on Budgetary Control (CONT) is a committee of the European Parliament. with 30 permanent members. It can be seen as the European Union's internal "political watchdog", seeking to identify undesirable developments within EU institutio ...

and in the Committee on Foreign Affairs.

Education

Korhola has studied in and graduated from the

University of Helsinki The University of Helsinki ( fi, Helsingin yliopisto, sv, Helsingfors universitet, abbreviated UH) is a public research university located in Helsinki, Finland since 1829, but founded in the city of Turku (in Swedish ''Åbo'') in 1640 as the ...

with the following degrees: * 1990:

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four year ...

in philosophy * 1994: Licentiate in philosophy * 2014:

Doctorate A doctorate (from Latin ''docere'', "to teach"), doctor's degree (from Latin ''doctor'', "teacher"), or doctoral degree is an academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism ''li ...

in environmental science

Career

* 1993–1996: Development educator, Finn Church Aid * 1994–1998: Assistant, radio editorial office * 1996–1999: Journalist and educator on the radio and television and in the press * 1997: Publicist (

Helsinki Festival The Helsinki Festival (in Finnish: Helsingin juhlaviikot, in Swedish: Helsingfors festspel) is the largest multi-arts festival in Finland. It is Finland's biggest cultural event in terms of visitors. In 2015, around 295,000 people visited the Helsin ...

) * 1999–2014: Member of the European Parliament * 2003: Party secretary of the Finnish Christian Democrats * 2006–2010: Vice chairwoman of the Finnish National Coalition Party * Since 2002: Chairwoman of the First Step Forum (human rights organization)

References

External links

* * * , - , - 1959 births Living people People from Lahti MEPs for Finland 1999–2004 MEPs for Finland 2004–2009 National Coalition Party MEPs MEPs for Finland 2009–2014 20th-century women MEPs for Finland 21st-century women MEPs for Finland Christian Democrats (Finland) MEPs {{Finland-MEP-stub