Stanislav Polčák (born 21 February 1980) is a Czech lawyer and politician who was elected 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 ...

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

and

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 ...

Early life

After defending a rigorous thesis in 2004, Polčák received the title JUDr. at the Faculty of Law of Charles University at the Department of Administrative Law, majoring in public law. He passed the bar exams in 2007.

Political career

Between September 2005 and December 2006, Polčák was appointed a member of the expert commission of the Office of the Government of the Czech Republic for EU issues. He ended his post in December 2006.

Member of Mayors and Independents

Polčák was elected as a member of the Chamber of Deputies of the Parliament of the Czech Republic from TOP 09 candidates list. He was elected vice-chairman of

Mayors and Independents The Mayors and Independents (, STAN) is a liberal political party in the Czech Republic, focused on localism, regionalism and subsidiarity. It holds 33 seats in the Chamber of Deputies, and is the third strongest party by number of seats fol ...

of the Republic Assembly in Průhonice near Prague, holding the position until March 2017. Polčák was re-elected vice-chairman of the Elders and Independents (STAN) movement at the end of August 2021. On 20 June 2022, Polčák has suspended his membership in the

party in connection with his ties with businessman and lobbyist , who was earlier arrested in Operation Dozimetr case. After eight months, Polčák reestablished his membership and stated that he was not suspicious nor charged by police and whole situation was a media construct.

2014 elections

In the

2014 European Parliament election The 2014 European Parliament election was held in the European Union (EU) between 22 and 25 May 2014. It was the 8th parliamentary election since the first direct elections in 1979, and the first in which the European political parties field ...

, Polčák ran as a member of STAN from the third place of candidates TOP 09 and STAN. Due to the incompatibility of the functions, he resigned from the mandate of a member of the Chamber of Deputies of the Czech Republic on 30 June, and was replaced by . In the municipal elections, Polčák ran as a member of the STAN for the Prague City Council on the candidate of the Triple Coalition: Green Party, KDU-ČSL, and STAN – but was unsuccessful.

Later political career

In the

2019 European Parliament election The 2019 European Parliament election was held in the European Union (EU) between 23 and 26 May 2019. It was the ninth parliamentary election since the first direct elections in 1979. A total of 751 Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) we ...

, Polčák defended his MEP mandate as a second-place member of Mayors and Independents, receiving 25,352 preferential votes. As an MEP, Polčák voted for the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive as part of the " Fit for 55 " plan, part of the European Union's broader strategy to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050 known as the Green Deal for Europe. According to the directive, all newly-constructed buildings should not have emissions and houses must be climate neutral, respectively from 2030 and 2050. He was not selected in the

2024 European Parliament election The 2024 European Parliament election was held in the European Union (EU) between 6 and 9 June 2024. It was the tenth Elections to the European Parliament, parliamentary election since the 1979 European Parliament election, first direct electio ...

Controversy

In 2011, ''

Hospodářské noviny ''Hospodářské noviny'' () is a national daily newspaper published in the Czech Republic. History and profile ''Hospodářské noviny'' was first published on 21 May 1990. The paper is headquartered in Prague and has a specific focus on econom ...

'' wrote that Polčák had claimed CZK 7.5 milion, to which he said that he was only representing his client.

Vrbětice case

In March 2022, his claim to 7.7 milion CZK for representing municipalities in the " Vrbětice " case caused controversy, when he did not mention his right during the entire time, and only claimed it at the end of the court case. After media coverage of the case, Polčák waived his claim and resigned as vice-chairman of Mayors and Independents. At the end of February 2017, Czech Radio reported that Polčák consulted on nominations for important positions in Prague companies and at the municipality with businessman Michal Redl, a man known from the cases of Radovan Krejčíř. In response to this event the next day, Polčák decided not to run for any elected office in the movement during the March Assembly of Mayor and Independents. In October 2023, '' Deník N'' reported that police filed on the case contained the statement of Polčák, who appeared as a witness in the case of Redl's accusation. Polčák was originally personally acquainted with Redl's father, Petr, with whom he worked as a lawyer in Zlín.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Polcak, Stanislav MEPs for the Czech Republic 2014–2019 MEPs for the Czech Republic 2019–2024 Mayors and Independents MEPs 1980 births Living people People from Slavičín 21st-century Czech lawyers Charles University alumni Members of the Chamber of Deputies of the Czech Republic (2010–2013) Members of the Chamber of Deputies of the Czech Republic (2013–2017)