Andris Piebalgs
Andris Piebalgs [ ˈandrɪs ˈpiːɛbalgz ] (born September 17, 1957 in Valmiera ) is a Latvian diplomat , politician and former EU commissioner .
Career in Latvia
Andris Piebalgs studied physics at the University of Latvia in Riga and was a teacher of mathematics and physics in Valmiera in the 1980s.
He was active in the Latvian Popular Front and in 1993 a co-founder of the liberal-conservative party "Latvia's Way" (Latvijas Ceļš). From 1990 to 1993 he was Minister of Education, from 1993 to 1994 Member of Parliament and from 1994 to 1995 Minister of Finance. From 1995 to 1997 he was the Latvian ambassador to Estonia .
Careers in the EU
Piebalgs was Latvian Ambassador to the European Union in Brussels from 1998 to 2003 . He was the leading negotiator for Latvia's accession negotiations to the EU.
In 2004 he worked as the Brussels office head of the Latvian EU Commissioner Sandra Kalniete . At the beginning of November he was sent by the Latvian government to replace the EU Commissioner- designate Ingrīda Ūdre, who was controversial in the EU Parliament, as the new representative of Latvia in the Barroso I Commission . He got the post of energy commissioner , which should actually belong to the Hungarian László Kovács , who became commissioner for taxes and customs union . He was a member of the Barroso II follow-up commission as commissioner for development.
Others
In addition to his Latvian mother tongue, Piebalgs speaks fluent German , Russian , French and English . He also has a basic knowledge of Estonian . He is married and has three children.
Web links
- Official website
- Blog (English)
Joaquín Almunia | José Manuel Barroso | Jacques Barrot | Joseph Borġ | Stavros Dimas | Benita Ferrero-Waldner | Ján Figeľ (until October 2009) | Mariann Fischer Boel | Franco Frattini (until May 2008) | Dalia Grybauskaitė (until July 2009) | Danuta Hübner (until July 2009) | Siim Kallas | László Kovács | Neelie Kroes | Márkos Kyprianoú (until March 2008) | Peter Mandelson (until October 2008) | Louis Michel (until July 2009) | Andris Piebalgs | Janez Potočnik | Charlie McCreevy | Viviane Reding | Olli Rehn | Vladimír Špidla | Günter Verheugen | Margot Wallström
Additions:
Catherine Ashton (from October 2008) |
Karel De Gucht (from July 2009) |
Meglena Kunewa (from January 2007) |
Leonard Orban (from January 2007) |
Paweł Samecki (from July 2009) |
Maroš Šefčovič (from October 2009) |
Algirdas Šemeta (from July 2009) |
Antonio Tajani (from May 2008) |
Androulla Vassiliou (from March 2008)
Joaquín Almunia | László Andor | Catherine Ashton | Michel Barnier | José Manuel Barroso | Tonio Borg | Dacian Cioloș | John Dalli | Maria Damanaki | Karel De Gucht | Jacek Dominik (from July 2014) | Štefan Füle | Máire Geoghegan-Quinn | Kristalina Georgieva | Johannes Hahn | Connie Hedegaard | Siim Kallas | Jyrki Katainen (from June 2014) | Neelie Kroes | Janusz Lewandowski (until June 2014) | Cecilia Malmström | Ferdinando Nelli Feroci (from July 2014) | Günther Oettinger | Andris Piebalgs | Janez Potočnik | Viviane Reding (until June 2014) | Olli Rehn (until June 2014) | Martine Reicherts (from July 2014) | Maroš Šefčovič | Algirdas Šemeta | Antonio Tajani (until June 2014) | Androulla Vassiliou
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Piebalgs, Andris |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Latvian diplomat, politician, member of the Saeima and EU commissioner |
| DATE OF BIRTH | 17th September 1957 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Valmiera |