Speakers

Born on 21 September 1952 in Rybnik (Poland). Doctor of Sociology. Lecturer, expert, politician and social activist. Between 1990 and 1998 Mayor of Cieszyn, founder member of the Euroregion Śląsk Cieszyński – Tesinske Slezko. In 1993-1998 Vice-Chairman of the Association of Polish Cities responsible for contacts with European local and regional government organisations. Vice-Chairman of the Council of European Municipalities and Regions from 1995 to 2001. Chairman of the Polish delegation to the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe in 1990-1998. Between 1998 and 2002 Marshal of Silesian Voivodeship. Founder member of the Marshals’ Convent of Poland. In 2000-2004 Member of the Management Board of the Assembly of European Regions and Member of the National Council for Regional Policy. Since 1979 lecturer at the University of Silesia in Katowice, then at the University of Bielsko-Biala, University of Economics in Katowice and Jagiellonian University in Cracow. Since 2004, Member of the European Parliament on behalf of Civic Platform (Group of European People’s Party at the European Parliament). Vice-Chairman of the Committee on Regional Development in the years 2004-2009 and European Parliament rapporteur on the European Grouping of Territorial Cooperation. For the period 2009-2014, member of the Parliamentary Committees: Regional Development, Budget and Budgetary Control; Vice-Chairman of the special, temporary committee on the policy challenges and budgetary resources for a sustainable European Union after 2013. European Parliament’s rapporteur for the European Regional Development Fund general regulation. Member of the Delegation for relations with Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Montenegro and Kosovo. Also member of the Delegation for relations with the United States. During the current parliamentary term member of the Committee on Budgets and the Committee on Regional Development. European People’s Party Group’s Coordinator in the Committee on Budgets. Member of the delegation for relations with the countries of Southeast Asia and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the delegation to the EU-Montenegro Stabilisation and Association Parliamentary Committee. Committed to the work of the European Parliament to promote dialogue with churches, he was Vice-Chairman of the European People Party Group responsible for intercultural dialogue and religious affairs. Since 2015, chair of the EPP Working Group on Intercultural Dialogue and Religious Affairs at the European Parliament. Chair of the working group „Values and Liberties” in the framework of the European People’s Party think tank European Ideas Network. Member of the Board of the Robert Schuman Foundation for closer cooperation between Christian Democrats in Europe. Founder, member and the President of the URBAN Intergroup in the European Parliament gathering politicians, stakeholders and cilivians interested in urban issues. Currently, URBAN Intergroup is one of 28 active intergroups and regroup more than 100 partners and 86 MEPs. Awarded Knight Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta in 2000, National Order of Merit (France) in 2002 and winner of the European Prize of Emperor Maximilian for the impact on local and regional policy development in Europe in 2005. MEP of the year 2007 in the field of regional policy and MEP of the year 2013 in the field of sustainable built environment – Parliament Magazine’s MEP Awards. For outstanding work for regional cross-border cooperation honoured by Hungarian Government in 2010 – Pàlfi István Award.