Siim Kallas

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Siim Kallas (2014)

Siim Kallas [ ˈsiːm ˈkallas ] (born October 2, 1948 in Tallinn ) is an Estonian politician. He was Prime Minister of the Republic of Estonia in 2002/03. From 2010 to 2014 he was Vice President of the European Commission and Commissioner for Transport .

Life

education

Kallas, who studied economics, graduated in 1967 at the “22. School "(high school) in Tallinn and 1972 at the University of Tartu in the subject" Finance and Credit "( cum laude , ie with the highest distinction in Estonia). From 1972 to 1975 he was an aspirant in the same subject and graduated with a doctorate.

Political career in Estonia

Siim Kallas and George W. Bush (2002).

Kallas worked in the Ministry of Finance of the Estonian Soviet Republic (1975-1979), as director of the board of the Estonian Savings Banks (1979-1986) and as deputy editor of the party newspaper Rahva Hääl ("Voice of the People") (1986-1989). From 1989 to 1991 he was chairman of the Central Union of Trade Unions. During the Estonian aspirations for autonomy, Kallas became known as a protagonist of economic liberalization and especially of Estonia's monetary and economic independence from the Soviet Union .

From 1991 to 1995, Kallas, a proven economist and financial expert, was President of the Estonian national bank Eesti Pank , whose influence was limited due to the fixed link between the Estonian kroon and the German mark . On the side, Kallas continued to work at the University of Tartu, first as a lecturer on a quarter position and then as a visiting professor.

In 1994 he founded the economically liberal Estonian Reform Party (Estonian: Reformierakond ). He led this party from its founding in 1994 to November 2004. He was succeeded by Andrus Ansip . Due to the great success of the Reformierakond in the 1995 elections, Kallas resigned from his position as Chairman of the National Bank and became Foreign Minister (1995–1996) and Finance Minister (1999–2002).

After another government reshuffle, Kallas became Prime Minister of Estonia in 2002. He held office until the 2003 elections. Since then he has been a simple member of the Estonian Parliament ( Riigikogu ).

Political career in the EU

Siim Kallas at the 2013 electromobility summit in Berlin.

On May 1, 2004 he became EU Commissioner, together with Joaquín Almunia , responsible for economic and currency affairs . In the new Commission, in office from November 18, 2004 to February 9, 2010, he was Commissioner for Administration , Audit and Anti-Fraud. In 2005 he launched the transparency initiative , which in 2008 resulted in the introduction of a voluntary EU transparency register . In November 2009 he was again nominated as Vice President and Commissioner for Transport for the follow-up commission . He took up this position on February 10, 2010.

As EU Transport Commissioner, he tried to find a consensus with the German Transport Minister Dobrindt on the planned car toll in Germany. However, this did not materialize, although Kallas had repeatedly assured his support. The Federal Government presented a concept to the EU Commission that is incompatible with EU law.

During his tenure as EU Commissioner for Transport, Siim Kallas developed a so-called railway package , which aims to strengthen the European Railway Agency (ERA) by accepting the approval of rolling stock. This is currently happening at the national level and there are massive problems, as in Germany with the Bombardier Talent 2 trains and these approvals are only valid for the respective country. The joint EU approval is intended to significantly accelerate and simplify this.

Return to Estonia

After his career in Brussels, Kallas ran again as his party's candidate in the 2019 parliamentary elections in the constituency of Kesklinn, Lasnamäe and Pirita in Tallinn. There he managed to get 8,733 votes and has been a member of the Riigikogu since then . Parliament elected him second Vice-President at its first meeting on April 4, 2019.

Private

Siim Kallas is married and has a father of two. His daughter Kaja Kallas (* 1977) is also a member (chairwoman since 2018) of the Reform Party and was a member of the European Parliament from 2014 to 2018.

Others

In 2012, he acted as a witness in the documentary "The Brussels Business - Who controls the European Union?" With. His statements were based on his experience as Vice-President of the European Commission .

Honors

Web links

Commons : Siim Kallas  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Eva Dombo: EU Commission wants transparency for lobby work. tagesschau.de, June 22, 2008, accessed on March 10, 2013 .
  2. ^ President Barroso introduces his new team. (pdf; 137 kB) November 27, 2009, p. 13 , accessed on March 10, 2013 .
  3. ↑ Online report of the election commission of March 8, 2019, accessed on April 5, 2019 (Estonian)
  4. ↑ Office of the Federal President
personal data
SURNAME Kallas, Siim
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Estonian politician, Vice-President of the European Commission
DATE OF BIRTH October 2, 1948
PLACE OF BIRTH Tallinn , Estonian SSR