Jan Zahradil

Jan Zahradil ( born March 30, 1963 in Prague) is a Czech politician of the conservative party ODS. Since 2004 he is member of the European Parliament and since March 8, 2011 Chairman of the European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR). He is also president of the associated European Party Alliance of European Conservatives and Reformists ( AECR ) since 2009. Previously, he worked for from 1998 to 2004 member of the Czech Chamber of Deputies from 2001 to 2004 and Vice Chairman of the ODS.

Life and political career

Zahlradil studied at the University of Chemical Technology in Prague, where he graduated in 1987 and went to 1992 worked as a research assistant. He was involved in the Velvet Revolution and from 1990 to 1992 a member of the Federal Assembly of Czechoslovakia as well as advisor to the Minister of Foreign Affairs. From 1995 to 1997 he was a foreign policy advisor to former Czech Prime Minister Vaclav Klaus. From 1998 to 2004 he was a member of the Czech Chamber of Deputies, where he was first deputy chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee, later the European Affairs Committee. 2002/ 03 he was a member of the European Convention which drafted the EU Constitutional Treaty.

2001 Zahradil was elected deputy chairman of the ODS. After he had vainly candidate for the post of party chairman in 2002, he held the office of the newly created First Deputy Chairman. He held until 2004 this office.

After the Czech EU accession Zahradil was elected in the 2004 European elections in the European Parliament, where he was head of the ODS delegation. This was a member of the European Democrats ( ED) there first of the EPP- ED Group. After the 2009 European elections, in which Zahradil was re-elected, the ED, however, left the common fraction to form with various other parties, the new European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR). The members of the Group also established a political party at European level, the Alliance of European Conservatives and Reformists ( AECR ), whose chairman was Zahradil. He was also Deputy Chairman of the Group. After the previous Group Chairman Michal Kaminski had renounced this office, Zahradil was elected on 8 March 2011 as his successor. He beat off Timothy Kirkhope with 33 votes to 18 by.

EU Parliament period 2009-2014

In the current legislative session is Zahradil member of the Committee on International Trade and the Delegation to the EU -Turkey Joint Parliamentary Committee. Deputy, he is the Development Committee, the Subcommittee on Human Rights, the Delegation to the Cariforum -EU Parliamentary Committee and the Delegation to the ACP -EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly.

Political positions

Zahradil is close to Václav Klaus and is a leading member of the Eurosceptic wing within the ODS. He is also known as climate skeptics in 2007 he set up for the distribution of the film The Great Global Warming Swindle.