Henrik Lax

Henrik Lax ( born May 6, 1946 in Helsinki, full name: Rolf Henrik Richard Lax ) is a Finnish politician of the Swedish People's Party and from 2004 to 2009 Member of the European Parliament.

Biography

Lax studied law at the University of Helsinki, where in 1969 he received his Master of Laws. In the following years he worked as a lawyer at a district court and as a lawyer and committee secretary at the Tax Committee of the industry association. In 1973 he graduated at the Swedish School of Economics in Helsinki from his business education with a degree in economics and then was a lawyer at the engine company Tampella. Over the next few years, he held various positions at Tampella, including as head of administration of subsidiaries, before he left the company in 1987. Since 1988 he is director of a life insurance company, since 1995 also in the alcohol company Alko.

From 1987 to 2004 Lax was a member of the Finnish Parliament for the Swedish People's Party. During this time he worked among others as Chairman of the Civil Law Committee, Vice Chairman of the Group, Member and partly also Deputy Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee and a member of the Constitutional Committee. From 1993 to 2005 he was Chairman of the Swedish National Assembly.

In the European elections in 2004 Lax was elected to the European Parliament, where he was a member of the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs, the Temporary Committee on Climate Change and the Delegation to the EU-Russia Parliamentary Cooperation Committee. He belonged to the Group of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe. After the 2009 European elections Lax retired from the Parliament.

In the Finnish presidential election in 2006 Lax was set up by his party as a candidate. He received 48,703 votes, representing 1.6 % of the votes and became the seventh of eight candidates.

Lax is one of the minority of Finland Sweden. He has been married since 1969 and has three adult children. His rank in the military is that of a captain.

Awards

• Officer's Cross of the French Legion of Honour
• Knight First Class of the Order of the White Rose of Finland