Morten Løkkegaard (born 20 December 1964) is a Danish politician who has served as a

Member of the European Parliament A member of the European Parliament (MEP) is a person who has been Election, elected to serve as a popular representative in the European Parliament. When the European Parliament (then known as the Common Assembly of the European Coal and S ...

(MEP) and the

Danish Parliament The Folketing ( , ), also known as the Parliament of Denmark or the Danish Parliament in English, is the unicameral national legislature (parliament) of the Kingdom of Denmark — Denmark proper together with the Faroe Islands and Greenland. E ...

intermittently since 2009. He has held his current position as a member of the European Parliament since 2016. He represents the Venstre political party and is affiliated with the

Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe The Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE; , ADLE) was a transnational alliance between two European political parties, the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe Party and the European Democratic Party. ALDE had political ...

Early life and education

Løkkegaard was born on 20 December 1964 in

Helsingør Helsingør ( , ; ), classically known in English as Elsinore ( ), is a coastal city in northeastern Denmark. Helsingør Municipality had a population of 63,953 on 1 January 2025, making it the 23rd most populated municipality in Denmark. Helsin ...

, Denmark. He graduated from Nørre Gymnasium in 1983 and studied at Denmark's Journalist

Folk High School Folk high schools (also ''adult education center'') are institutions for adult education that generally do not grant academic degrees, though certain courses might exist leading to that goal. They are most commonly found in Nordic countries and i ...

(Danish: ''Danmarks Journalisthøjskole'') in 1988. He was then a writer for

Jyllands-Posten (; English: ''The Morning Newspaper "The Jutland Post"''), commonly shortened to or ''JP'', is a Danish daily broadsheet newspaper. It is based in Aarhus C, Jutland, and with a weekday circulation of approximately 120,000 copies.Danish Broadcasting Corporation DR (), officially the Danish Broadcasting Corporation in English, is a Danish public-service radio and television broadcasting company. Founded in 1925 as a public-service organization, it is Denmark's oldest and largest electronic media enter ...

where he hosted political and entertainment television programs. In 1995, he was a German Marshall Fellow studying politics in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. In 2005, he founded an independent communications consultancy where he acted as a consultant, lecturer, and moderator.

Political career

Løkkegaard was first elected to the European Parliament in 2009 and represented Denmark as a member of the Danish Liberal party, Venstre, and the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe. He was a

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 ...

and the deputy chairman of the Danish delegation to the

Nordic Council The Nordic Council is the official body for formal inter-parliamentary Nordic cooperation among the Nordic countries. Formed in 1952, it has 87 representatives from Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden as well as from the autonomo ...

and to the

Parliamentary Assembly of the Mediterranean The Parliamentary Assembly of the Mediterranean (PAM) is an international organization established in 2005 by the national parliaments of the countries of the Euro-Mediterranean region. It is the legal successor of the Conference on Security and ...

. In 2014, his party lost seats at the EU and he lost his re-election. After losing his seat at the European Parliament, Løkkegaard became a candidate for the

in the Ballerup and Glostrup constituencies. He was elected in 2015, and represented Copenhagen as a member of Venstre, a seat which he held until March 2016. In 2016, Løkkegaard was re-elected to the European Parliament, replacing Ulla Tornaes. He served as Vice Chair of the

Committee on Culture and Education The Committee on Culture and Education (CULT) is a committee of the European Parliament. Responsibilities of the committee This committee has focused on the well-being of all members of the human race and the increased opportunities for educat ...

during his first term. He later served on the

Committee on Employment and Social Affairs The Committee on Employment and Social Affairs (EMPL) is a Committees of the European Parliament, committee of the European Parliament. It is responsible for issues of employment and social policy, including labour rights, social security, inclusion ...

(2016–2017) and the

Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection The Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection (IMCO) is a Committees of the European Parliament, committee of the European Parliament. Work of the committee The committee is responsible for: * Coordination at Community level of na ...

(2016–2019). In this capacity, he was the Parliament's

on the European Accessibility Act in 2019. In addition to his committee assignments, Løkkegaard was also a member of the Parliament's delegation with relations to

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

and a substitute member of the delegation with relations to the United States. In 2018, he was his party's nomination for ''Spitzenkandidat''. Løkkegaard was re-elected to the

European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the two 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 ...

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

. He has since been serving as one of eight vice chairs of the

Renew Europe Renew Europe (or simply Renew) is a liberal, centrist to centre-right, pro-European political group of the European Parliament founded for the ninth European Parliament term. The group is the successor to the Alliance of Liberals and Dem ...

group, under the leadership of chairman

Dacian Cioloș Dacian Julien Cioloș (; born 27 July 1969) is a Romanian Agronomy, agronomist who served as Prime Minister of Romania from November 2015 to January 2017. He previously served as Ministry of Agriculture, Forests and Rural Development (Romania), A ...

. He also joined the

(since 2019) and the Special Committee on Foreign Interference in all Democratic Processes in the European Union (since 2020). Since 2021, he has been part of the Parliament's delegation to the

Conference on the Future of Europe The Conference on the Future of Europe was a proposal of the European Commission and the European Parliament, announced at the end of 2019, with the aim of looking at the medium- to long-term future of the EU and what reforms should be made to ...

. In addition to his committee assignments, Løkkegaard is part of the Parliament's delegation for relations with

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and

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

. Løkkegaard is highly involved with issues related to communication on and about the EU, and to the creation of an actual European public sphere. He also works on issues related to jobs and growth creation–notably through a completion of the Single Market and through advocating the negotiation of large free trade agreements with our major trading partner (such as the

BRICS BRICS is an intergovernmental organization comprising ten countriesBrazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, Egypt, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Iran and the United Arab Emirates. The idea of a BRICS-like group can be traced back to Russian foreign ...

and the U.S). His main political focus evolves around his practical experience and background, since he has more than 20 years of experience with in the Danish press as a journalist and anchorman on national TV in Denmark.

Personal life

Løkkegaard was previously married to Paula Larrain, with whom he has a son, though they have since divorced. He is married to Connie Dahl Løkkegaard, and the couple have several children together.

References

External links

Entry at the European Parliament
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lokkegaard, Morten 1964 births Living people Venstre (Denmark) MEPs MEPs for Denmark 2009–2014 People from Helsingør MEPs for Denmark 2019–2024 Members of the Folketing 2015–2019 MEPs for Denmark 2024–2029