Cecilia Malmström
Encyclopedia
Anna Cecilia Malmström (born 15 May 1968) is a Swedish politician
currently serving as European Commissioner for Home Affairs in the Barroso Commission
. Prior to her appointment as commissioner, she had served as a Member of the European Parliament
1999–2006 and as Swedish Minister for European Union Affairs
2006–2010.
She is a member of the Liberal People's Party
, part of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe
.
but grew up in Gothenburg
and in France (where she studied literature in 1987 at the University of Paris
. She has also worked at Stuttgart
and Barcelona
. She currently resides in Lindholmen, Gothenburg, with her husband and twins. She speaks Swedish
, English, Catalan, Spanish and French fluently, and a good standard German and Italian
.
Malmström was a student at Gothenburg University
from 1992 to 1999: assistant researcher (1994); PhD in political science with thesis titled The Region, Power and Glory: Regional Parties in Western Europe (1998); Lecturer at the Department of Government (1998–99). She has researched and taught in European politics
, regionalism, immigration, and terrorism. Malmström has been a member of the Liberal Party since the late 1980s, sitting as party executive since 1997, and was a member of in the Västra Götaland
Regional Council from 1998–2001. In 2007, when Jan Björklund
was elected party leader, she was appointed first vice party chairman.
and she was reelected in 2004
. During her tenure she served on the Committees on Foreign Affairs
, Constitutional Affairs
, the Internal Market and Consumer Protection and also on the subcommittees for Human Rights
and Security & Defence
. She was also vice chair of the Parliament's delegations to Hungary (before it joined in 2004) and Croatia.
During her time as MEP she also initiated the oneseat.eu
web campaign, which aims to make the European Parliament permanently seated in Brussels
. It was the first such petition to gain one million signature, a nod to the right of petition under the Treaty of Lisbon
.
which saw the victory of the centre-right coalition
of Fredrik Reinfeldt
, Malmström returned to Sweden to take up the job of Minister for European Affairs
in Reinfeldt's cabinet on 6 October 2006. This included institutional issues, review of the EU budget, Baltic Sea Strategy, the Lisbon Strategy
and preparing for the then-upcoming Swedish Presidency of the Council of the European Union
.
Malmström supports Swedish adoption of the euro currency and in August 2007 she was one of the politicians calling for another referendum
on euro membership (first was in 2003). "We respect the result of the referendum, of course, but still think that one should be able to argue for something one believes in ... A lot had changed since the 2003 referendum ... Slovenia has joined, Malta and Cyprus are joining at the beginning of next year. Next year, at least two Baltic countries will join. In 2010–11 there could be eight or nine new members. The more members there are, the greater the political price of being outside, because we can't make a difference ... Sweden had lost out economically by not joining the single European currency." She cited a report from the National Board of Trade: "We have lost 100 billion kronor in exports and the same amount in imports. Our trade with the eurozone would have been 13–14 percent greater if we had been members."
. President of the European Commission
José Manuel Barroso offered her the role of Commissioner for Home Affairs which was created due to a liberal demand to split the previous portfolio which was joined with human rights. Despite this post being security oriented, Malmström made clear to MEPs she would not be a bad cop
to the fundamental rights portfolio's good cop
. She was approved by MEPs and took up the post on 10 February 2010.
One of her first initiatives as a EU commissioner was to propose a directive proposing stronger sanctions against sexual abuse of children, where on of the proposed actions was to oblige the EU Member States to block access to child pornography on the Internet. Critics interpret that as installation of a net censorship infrastructure not helping children, but being counterproductive and a dangerous threat to democracy. NGO's working for children's right such as Save the Children and NSPCC have, however, come out to defend the action. Malmström was quickly rewarded the nickname 'Censilia' on the social web and in – mostly German – dailies, a portmanteau word blending the word “censorship” and her given name (“Cecilia”) as a follow-up of the “Zensursula” nickname of the German minister Ursula von der Leyen
who failed to establish similar filtering techniques in Germany due a decision to prioritise the deletion of illegal websites.
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Politics of Sweden
Politics of Sweden takes place in a framework of a parliamentary representative democratic constitutional monarchy. Executive power is exercised by the government, led by the Prime Minister of Sweden. Legislative power is vested in both the government and parliament, elected within a multi-party...
currently serving as European Commissioner for Home Affairs in the Barroso Commission
Barroso Commission
The Barroso Commission is the European Commission that has been in office since 22 November 2004 and is due to serve until 2014. Its president is José Manuel Barroso, who presides over 26 other commissioners...
. Prior to her appointment as commissioner, she had served as a Member of the European Parliament
Member of the European Parliament
A Member of the European Parliament is a person who has been elected to the European Parliament. The name of MEPs differ in different languages, with terms such as europarliamentarian or eurodeputy being common in Romance language-speaking areas.When the European Parliament was first established,...
1999–2006 and as Swedish Minister for European Union Affairs
Minister for EU Affairs (Sweden)
The Minister for European Union Affairs is part of the Swedish Government and appointed by the Prime Minister. The minister comes under the Prime Minister's Office and is responsible for overall questions about the European Union as the EU's strategy for growth and employment, the EU's financial...
2006–2010.
She is a member of the Liberal People's Party
Liberal People's Party (Sweden)
The Liberal People's Party is a political party in Sweden. The party advocates social liberalism and is part of the governing centre-right coalition The Alliance, which achieved a majority in the general election of 17 September 2006...
, part of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe
Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe
The Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe is a transnational alliance between two European political parties: the European Liberal Democrat and Reform Party and the European Democratic Party. It has political groups in the European Parliament, the EU Committee of the Regions, the...
.
Early life
Malmström was born in Brännkyrka församling in StockholmStockholm
Stockholm is the capital and the largest city of Sweden and constitutes the most populated urban area in Scandinavia. Stockholm is the most populous city in Sweden, with a population of 851,155 in the municipality , 1.37 million in the urban area , and around 2.1 million in the metropolitan area...
but grew up in Gothenburg
Gothenburg
Gothenburg is the second-largest city in Sweden and the fifth-largest in the Nordic countries. Situated on the west coast of Sweden, the city proper has a population of 519,399, with 549,839 in the urban area and total of 937,015 inhabitants in the metropolitan area...
and in France (where she studied literature in 1987 at the University of Paris
University of Paris
The University of Paris was a university located in Paris, France and one of the earliest to be established in Europe. It was founded in the mid 12th century, and officially recognized as a university probably between 1160 and 1250...
. She has also worked at Stuttgart
Stuttgart
Stuttgart is the capital of the state of Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany. The sixth-largest city in Germany, Stuttgart has a population of 600,038 while the metropolitan area has a population of 5.3 million ....
and Barcelona
Barcelona
Barcelona is the second largest city in Spain after Madrid, and the capital of Catalonia, with a population of 1,621,537 within its administrative limits on a land area of...
. She currently resides in Lindholmen, Gothenburg, with her husband and twins. She speaks Swedish
Swedish language
Swedish is a North Germanic language, spoken by approximately 10 million people, predominantly in Sweden and parts of Finland, especially along its coast and on the Åland islands. It is largely mutually intelligible with Norwegian and Danish...
, English, Catalan, Spanish and French fluently, and a good standard German and Italian
Italian language
Italian is a Romance language spoken mainly in Europe: Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City, by minorities in Malta, Monaco, Croatia, Slovenia, France, Libya, Eritrea, and Somalia, and by immigrant communities in the Americas and Australia...
.
Malmström was a student at Gothenburg University
Gothenburg University
The University of Gothenburg is a university in Sweden's second largest city, Gothenburg.- Character :The University of Gothenburg is the third-oldest Swedish university, and with 24,900 full-time students it is also among the largest universities in the Nordic countries...
from 1992 to 1999: assistant researcher (1994); PhD in political science with thesis titled The Region, Power and Glory: Regional Parties in Western Europe (1998); Lecturer at the Department of Government (1998–99). She has researched and taught in European politics
Politics of the European Union
The Politics of the European Union are different from other organisations and states due to the unique nature of the European Union . The EU is similar to a confederation, where many policy areas are federalised into common institutions capable of making law; however the EU does not, unlike most...
, regionalism, immigration, and terrorism. Malmström has been a member of the Liberal Party since the late 1980s, sitting as party executive since 1997, and was a member of in the Västra Götaland
Västra Götaland County
Västra Götaland County is a county or län on the western coast of Sweden.The county is the second largest of Sweden's counties and it is subdivided into 49 municipalities . Its population of 1,550,000 amounts to 17% of Sweden's population...
Regional Council from 1998–2001. In 2007, when Jan Björklund
Jan Björklund
Jan Arne Björklund is a Swedish politician. He is the leader of the Liberal People's Party and serves as Minister for Education and Deputy Prime Minister in the Swedish government.- Education and military career :...
was elected party leader, she was appointed first vice party chairman.
MEP (1999–2006)
In 1999 Malmström was elected as an MEP for SwedenEuropean Parliament election, 1999 (Sweden)
The European Parliament election of 1999 in Sweden was the election of MEP representing Sweden constituency for the 1999-2004 term of the European Parliament. It was part of the wider 1999 European election. The vote took place on 13 June.- Results:...
and she was reelected in 2004
European Parliament election, 2004 (Sweden)
The European Parliament election of 2004 in Sweden was the election of MEP representing Sweden constituency for the 2004-2009 term of the European Parliament. It was part of the wider 2004 European election. The vote took place on June 13...
. During her tenure she served on the Committees on Foreign Affairs
Committee on Foreign Affairs (EU)
The Committee on Foreign Affairs , previously called Political Affairs, is a committee of the European Parliament...
, Constitutional Affairs
Committee on Constitutional Affairs
The Committee on Constitutional Affairs is a committee of the European Parliament dealing with institutional matters such as the treaties and the Parliament's rules of procedure. As of 2008, it is chaired by Jo Leinen MEP .-External links:*...
, the Internal Market and Consumer Protection and also on the subcommittees for Human Rights
Subcommittee on Human Rights
The Subcommittee on Human Rights is a subcommittee of the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the European Parliament. The committee is chaired by Barbara Lochbihler .- See also :* Sakharov Prize...
and Security & Defence
Subcommittee on Security and Defence
The Subcommittee on Security and Defence is a subcommittee of the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the European Parliament. It concerns Defence, and Security....
. She was also vice chair of the Parliament's delegations to Hungary (before it joined in 2004) and Croatia.
During her time as MEP she also initiated the oneseat.eu
Location of European Union institutions
The governing institutions of the European Union are not concentrated in a single capital city; they are instead spread across three cities with other EU agencies and bodies based further away...
web campaign, which aims to make the European Parliament permanently seated in Brussels
Brussels
Brussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...
. It was the first such petition to gain one million signature, a nod to the right of petition under the Treaty of Lisbon
Treaty of Lisbon
The Treaty of Lisbon of 1668 was a peace treaty between Portugal and Spain, concluded at Lisbon on 13 February 1668, through the mediation of England, in which Spain recognized the sovereignty of Portugal's new ruling dynasty, the House of Braganza....
.
European Affairs Minister (2006–2010)
Following the 2006 Swedish electionsSwedish general election, 2006
A general election was held in Sweden on 17 September 2006, to elect members to the Swedish parliament. All 349 seats were up for election: 310 "fixed seats" in 29 constituencies and 39 members at a national level for what are called "adjustment seats", used to ensure that parties have...
which saw the victory of the centre-right coalition
Alliance for Sweden
The Alliance , formerly Alliance for Sweden , is a political alliance in Sweden. It consists of the four centre-right parties in the Riksdag...
of Fredrik Reinfeldt
Fredrik Reinfeldt
John Fredrik Reinfeldt is the Prime Minister of Sweden, leader of the liberal conservative Moderate Party and former President of the European Council...
, Malmström returned to Sweden to take up the job of Minister for European Affairs
Minister for EU Affairs (Sweden)
The Minister for European Union Affairs is part of the Swedish Government and appointed by the Prime Minister. The minister comes under the Prime Minister's Office and is responsible for overall questions about the European Union as the EU's strategy for growth and employment, the EU's financial...
in Reinfeldt's cabinet on 6 October 2006. This included institutional issues, review of the EU budget, Baltic Sea Strategy, the Lisbon Strategy
Lisbon Strategy
The Lisbon Strategy, also known as the Lisbon Agenda or Lisbon Process, was an action and development plan devised in 2000, for the economy of the European Union between 2000 and 2010....
and preparing for the then-upcoming Swedish Presidency of the Council of the European Union
Presidency of the Council of the European Union
The Presidency of the Council of the European Union is the responsibility for the functioning of the Council of the European Union that rotates between the member states of the European Union every six months. The presidency is not a single president but rather the task is undertaken by a national...
.
Malmström supports Swedish adoption of the euro currency and in August 2007 she was one of the politicians calling for another referendum
Referendums in Sweden
Since the introduction of parliamentarism in Sweden, six referendums have been held. The constitution of 1974 provides for binding referendums. However, none of the referendums held have been binding but rather have been of an advisory and consultative nature and not formally binding on the...
on euro membership (first was in 2003). "We respect the result of the referendum, of course, but still think that one should be able to argue for something one believes in ... A lot had changed since the 2003 referendum ... Slovenia has joined, Malta and Cyprus are joining at the beginning of next year. Next year, at least two Baltic countries will join. In 2010–11 there could be eight or nine new members. The more members there are, the greater the political price of being outside, because we can't make a difference ... Sweden had lost out economically by not joining the single European currency." She cited a report from the National Board of Trade: "We have lost 100 billion kronor in exports and the same amount in imports. Our trade with the eurozone would have been 13–14 percent greater if we had been members."
Commissioner for Home Affairs (2010–)
On 17 November 2009 Malmström was nominated by her government as the country's next European CommissionerEuropean Commissioner
A European Commissioner is a member of the 27-member European Commission. Each Member within the college holds a specific portfolio and are led by the President of the European Commission...
. President of the European Commission
President of the European Commission
The President of the European Commission is the head of the European Commission ― the executive branch of the :European Union ― the most powerful officeholder in the EU. The President is responsible for allocating portfolios to members of the Commission and can reshuffle or dismiss them if needed...
José Manuel Barroso offered her the role of Commissioner for Home Affairs which was created due to a liberal demand to split the previous portfolio which was joined with human rights. Despite this post being security oriented, Malmström made clear to MEPs she would not be a bad cop
Good cop/Bad cop
Good cop/bad cop, known in British military circles as Mutt and Jeff and also called joint questioning and friend and foe, is a psychological tactic used for interrogation....
to the fundamental rights portfolio's good cop
Good cop/Bad cop
Good cop/bad cop, known in British military circles as Mutt and Jeff and also called joint questioning and friend and foe, is a psychological tactic used for interrogation....
. She was approved by MEPs and took up the post on 10 February 2010.
One of her first initiatives as a EU commissioner was to propose a directive proposing stronger sanctions against sexual abuse of children, where on of the proposed actions was to oblige the EU Member States to block access to child pornography on the Internet. Critics interpret that as installation of a net censorship infrastructure not helping children, but being counterproductive and a dangerous threat to democracy. NGO's working for children's right such as Save the Children and NSPCC have, however, come out to defend the action. Malmström was quickly rewarded the nickname 'Censilia' on the social web and in – mostly German – dailies, a portmanteau word blending the word “censorship” and her given name (“Cecilia”) as a follow-up of the “Zensursula” nickname of the German minister Ursula von der Leyen
Ursula von der Leyen
Ursula Gertrud von der Leyen is a German politician of the conservative Christian Democratic Union.Since 30 November 2009, she has served as the Federal Minister of Labour and Social Affairs in the Second Cabinet Merkel. In the First Cabinet Merkel , she served as Federal Minister of Family...
who failed to establish similar filtering techniques in Germany due a decision to prioritise the deletion of illegal websites.
Education
- 1987: Studies in literature at the University of ParisUniversity of ParisThe University of Paris was a university located in Paris, France and one of the earliest to be established in Europe. It was founded in the mid 12th century, and officially recognized as a university probably between 1160 and 1250...
- 1991: University degree, Gothenburg UniversityGothenburg UniversityThe University of Gothenburg is a university in Sweden's second largest city, Gothenburg.- Character :The University of Gothenburg is the third-oldest Swedish university, and with 24,900 full-time students it is also among the largest universities in the Nordic countries...
- PhD (1998) in political sciencePolitical sciencePolitical Science is a social science discipline concerned with the study of the state, government and politics. Aristotle defined it as the study of the state. It deals extensively with the theory and practice of politics, and the analysis of political systems and political behavior...
, Gothenburg UniversityGothenburg UniversityThe University of Gothenburg is a university in Sweden's second largest city, Gothenburg.- Character :The University of Gothenburg is the third-oldest Swedish university, and with 24,900 full-time students it is also among the largest universities in the Nordic countries... - 1989: Technical assistant with SKF in Paris (1986–1987) and BarcelonaBarcelonaBarcelona is the second largest city in Spain after Madrid, and the capital of Catalonia, with a population of 1,621,537 within its administrative limits on a land area of...
Career
- 1989–1992: Psychiatric nursePsychiatric and mental health nursingPsychiatric nursing or mental health nursing is the specialty of nursing that cares for people of all ages with mental illness or mental distress, such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, psychosis, depression or dementia...
, Lillhagen Hospital - 1991–1992: Teacher of social studies, municipal adult education service
- 1992–1999: Researcher at Gothenburg University
- since 1997: Member of the Swedish Liberal Party executive
- since 2001: Leading member of the Party
- 1998–2001: Member of Västra Götaland regional council
- 1999–2006: Member of the European ParliamentMember of the European ParliamentA Member of the European Parliament is a person who has been elected to the European Parliament. The name of MEPs differ in different languages, with terms such as europarliamentarian or eurodeputy being common in Romance language-speaking areas.When the European Parliament was first established,...
- 1999–2006: Member of the Committee on Foreign Affairs
- 1999–2004: Member of the Committee on Constitutional Affairs
- 1999–2004: Vice-Chairwoman of the Delegation to the EU-Hungary Joint Parliamentary Committee
- 2002–2004: ELDR Group spokeswoman on foreign affairs
- 1999–2006: Member of the ELDR/ALDE Group Bureau
- since 1999: Member of the Swedish Institute of International Affairs (Utrikespolitiska samfundet)
- since October 2006: Minister of European Affairs in Sweden
- Author of books, articles and essays on regional parties, regionalism, Spanish politics, European politics, immigration and terrorism, etc.
External links
- Cecilia Malmström Official Media Gallery
- Commissioner Malmström's page, European Commission
- Cecilia Malmström's pages, Swedish government
- Cecilia Malmström's Swedish EU Presidency blog
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