Niels Helveg Petersen
Encyclopedia
Odense
The city of Odense is the third largest city in Denmark.Odense City has a population of 167,615 and is the main city of the island of Funen...
) is a Danish
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
politician
Politician
A politician, political leader, or political figure is an individual who is involved in influencing public policy and decision making...
, member of parliament (Folketinget) for the Danish Social Liberal Party 1966-1974, 1977-1993 and again from 1994. Graduated in Law.
Niels Helveg Petersen entered Parliament at a young age and became a civil servant in the European Commission
European Commission
The European Commission is the executive body of the European Union. The body is responsible for proposing legislation, implementing decisions, upholding the Union's treaties and the general day-to-day running of the Union....
in 1974. When he returned from Brussels, he soon became party leader, a position he held until 1990.
He was Minister for Economic Affairs from June 3, 1988 to December 18, 1990 in the Cabinet of Poul Schlüter III.
After that he became Minister for Foreign Affairs from January 25, 1993 to December 21, 2000 in the Cabinet of Poul Nyrup Rasmussen I
Cabinet of Poul Nyrup Rasmussen I
When the conservative Prime Minister Poul Schlüter resigned on the 15 January 1993 because of the Tamil Case, the leader of the Social Democrats Poul Nyrup Rasmussen formed his first cabinet on the 25 January 1993. The cabinet consisted of the Social Democrats, the Social Liberal Party, the Centre...
, II
Cabinet of Poul Nyrup Rasmussen II
After the 1994 Danish parliamentary election, the sitting Danish Prime Minister Poul Nyrup Rasmussen was able to form a government coalition of his own Social Democrats, the Danish Social Liberal Party and the Centre Democrats...
, III
Cabinet of Poul Nyrup Rasmussen III
After the Centre Democrats left the government coalition in 1996, the sitting Danish Prime Minister Poul Nyrup Rasmussen was able to form a government coalition of his own Social Democrats and the Danish Social Liberal Party...
, and IV
Cabinet of Poul Nyrup Rasmussen IV
After the 1998 Danish parliamentary election, the sitting Danish Prime Minister Poul Nyrup Rasmussen was able to reform the government coalition of his own Social Democrats and the Danish Social Liberal Party...
(except for the last part of the IV cabinet).
In April 2008 he announced that he is not standing at the next election to take place in November 2011 at the latest.
Niels Helveg Petersen is the son of the former minister Kristen Helveg Petersen and former mayor of Copenhagen
Copenhagen
Copenhagen is the capital and largest city of Denmark, with an urban population of 1,199,224 and a metropolitan population of 1,930,260 . With the completion of the transnational Øresund Bridge in 2000, Copenhagen has become the centre of the increasingly integrating Øresund Region...
Lilly Helveg Petersen. His son Morten Helveg Petersen was member of the parliament from Marts 11, 1998 and until August 2009.