Henna Maria Virkkunen (born 4 June 1972) is a Finnish politician who has been serving as 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 ...

(MEP) since 2014. She is a member of 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 ...

, part of the European People's Party. She was Minister of Public Administration and Local Government in the government 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 ...

Jyrki Katainen Jyrki Tapani Katainen (born 14 October 1971) is a Finnish politician who served as the European Commission's Vice-President for Jobs, Growth, Investment and Competitiveness from 2014 until 2019. Katainen was previously Prime Minister of Finland fr ...

from 22 June 2011 to 24 June 2014.

Political career

In parliament, Virkkunen has been serving on the

Committee on Industry, Research and Energy The Committee on Industry, Research and Energy (ITRE) is a committee of the European Parliament. Its areas of responsibility relate to industry, especially technology-intensive manufacturing, information technology, and telecommunications. It also ...

(since 2014) and the

Committee on Transport and Tourism The Committee on Transport and Tourism (TRAN) is a committee of the European Parliament. Its current chair is the French MEP Karima Delli of the Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance. Research service The Committee is directly supported by ...

(since 2021). In 2022, she joined the Committee of Inquiry to investigate the use of Pegasus and equivalent surveillance

spyware Spyware (a portmanteau for spying software) is software with malicious behaviour that aims to gather information about a person or organization and send it to another entity in a way that harms the user—for example, by violating their priva ...

. Virkkunen was the

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 Eur ...

on the non-binding opinion on digital platforms and on driving and rest times. In addition to her committee assignments, Virkkunen has been a member of the parliament's delegation for relations with

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...

(2014-2019) and with the

Arab Peninsula The Arabian Peninsula, (; ar, شِبْهُ الْجَزِيرَةِ الْعَرَبِيَّة, , "Arabian Peninsula" or , , "Island of the Arabs") or Arabia, is a peninsula of Western Asia, situated northeast of Africa on the Arabian Plate. ...

(since 2019). She is also a member of the European Internet Forum; the

European Parliament Intergroup on LGBT Rights The European Parliament Intergroup on LGBTI Rights is an intergroup of the European Parliament's legislators which focuses on the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) persons both inside and outside the European Union ...

; the European Parliament Intergroup on the Welfare and Conservation of Animals; and the European Parliament Intergroup on Seas, Rivers, Islands and Coastal Areas. In December 2020, Virkkunen received the Energy award at ''The Parliament Magazines annual MEP Awards.

References

External links

* , - , - 1972 births Living people People from Joutsa National Coalition Party politicians Ministers of Education of Finland Ministers of Transport and Public Works of Finland Members of the Parliament of Finland (2007–11) Members of the Parliament of Finland (2011–15) MEPs for Finland 2014–2019 MEPs for Finland 2019–2024 21st-century women MEPs for Finland Women government ministers of Finland Women members of the Parliament of Finland {{Finland-MEP-stub