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Ján Figeľ

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Ján Figeľ
Figeľ in 2011
European Commissioner for Education, Training, Culture and Youth
In office
1 January 2007 – 1 October 2009
PresidentJosé Manuel Barroso
Preceded byHimself (Education, Training, Culture and Multilingualism)
Succeeded byMaroš Šefčovič
European Commissioner for Education, Training, Culture and Multilingualism
In office
22 November 2004 – 1 January 2007
PresidentJosé Manuel Barroso
Preceded byViviane Reding
Dalia Grybauskaitė (Education and Culture)
Succeeded byHimself (Education, Training, Culture and Youth)
Leonard Orban (Multilingualism)
European Commissioner for Enterprise and Information Society
In office
1 May 2004 – 22 November 2004
Served with Erkki Liikanen, Olli Rehn
PresidentRomano Prodi
Preceded byErkki Liikanen
Succeeded byGünter Verheugen (Enterprise and Industry)
Viviane Reding (Information Society and Media)
Personal details
Born (1960-01-20) 20 January 1960 (age 64)
Čaklov, Czechoslovakia (now Slovakia)
Political partyChristian Democratic Movement
SpouseMária Figeľová
Children4
EducationTechnical University of Košice

Ján Figeľ (born 20 January 1960) is a Slovak politician who served as European Commissioner from 2004 to 2009,[1] then as Slovak minister of Transports from 2010 to 2012.

From 2016 to 2019, was European Commission special envoy for the promotion of freedom of religion outside the EU.[2][3]

Political career

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Following his election as the leader of Christian Democratic Movement in Slovakia, Figeľ announced his resignation from the commission on 21 September 2009.[4] He was replaced by Maroš Šefčovič on 1 October 2009.[citation needed]

In 2007, Figeľ received a PhD title in the field of social work at St. Elizabeth's School of Medicine and Social Work in Bratislava, a university-level private academic institution. The majority of the thesis was copied from a publication he edited in 2003 with Slovak diplomat Miroslav Adamiš, "Slovakia on the Road to the European Union – Chapters and Contexts", in which they described the country's EU accession process. The rector of St Elizabeth's School, Vladimír Krčméry, said that they took into consideration Figeľ's position and had granted Figeľ a PhD mainly due to the fact that he was at the time serving as a European commissioner.[5]

On 24 August 2012, Science Insider reported that Figeľ was facing an official inquiry into the legitimacy of his PhD. awarded while he was in office.[6]

Slovak Minister of Transport

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From 2010 to 2012, Figeľ was a Slovak Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Transport, Construction and Regional Development.[7]

Figeľ was chairman of the Christian Democratic Movement (KDH) from 19 September 2009 until 15 March 2016, when he resigned as party leader following unsuccessful general elections when KDH took just 4.96 percent of the vote and, as a result, Christian Democrats did not win any seats in the parliament for the first time since they were established in 1990 and paid the price for not passing the baton to a new generation.[8] Furthermore, Figeľ created a controversy with an electoral campaign focusing on anti immigration and nationalist rhetoric with a slogan about "white Slovakia".[9] In May 2019, he ran for European Parliament elections but, receiving only 23792 preferential votes, he was not elected.[10]

In autumn 2010, Slovak media raised controversy regarding Figeľ's generous EU perks making him a politician with best revenues in Slovakia. Furthermore, daily newspaper Sme recalled that in 2001, when his party colleague Andrej Ďurkovský was Bratislava's Old City district Mayor, Figeľ obtained a social housing apartment in downtown Bratislava for almost nothing (156 sq meters for 1.813 €). Prime Minister of Slovakia Iveta Radičová said that if Figeľ had taken any different course of action it would have harmed the whole ruling coalition, since she could not use the justification employed by her predecessor Robert Fico who dismissed scandals connected to his coalition partners by saying that they were their own business.[11]

Special Envoy for the promotion of freedom of religion or belief outside the European Union

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Following unsuccessful 2016 Slovak parliamentary election, Figeľ resigned as chairman of the Christian Democratic Movement (KDH), and was then appointed Special Envoy for the promotion of freedom of religion or belief outside the European Union by European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker on 6 May.[12]

The European Parliament supported and had called for this initiative in its Resolution of 4 February 2016.[13] During his mandate, Figeľ reported to the European Commission Vice-President Frans Timmermans who was then responsible for the dialogue with churches and faith-based organisation (Art.17 TFEU). He served in this position as Special Adviser to the Commissioner for International Cooperation and Development, Neven Mimica. His mandate expired with the end of term of Juncker Commission on 30 November 2019. No such special envoy was appointed in the Von der Leyen Commission.

In January 2018, during his visit to Pakistan, Figeľ's claim that the Asia Bibi case is directly linked to the outcome of negotiations and renewal of an EU-Pakistan preferential tariffs agreement GSP+ raised controversy, as it was later demonstrated as a false claim.[14] On 11 April, Chairman of the British Pakistani Christian Association (BPCA) Wilson Chowdhry said during a seminar in the European Parliament that "[the BPCA] is embarrassed that it ever believed Jan Figel, special envoy for the promotion of freedom of religion or belief outside the EU, who told the Pakistani government that the outcome of Bibi's case is going to be directly linked to trade favors the EU bestows upon Pakistan."[15] Furthermore, Figeľs final report on his activities contained several inaccuracies and diplomatic mistakes. During his visit to "Macedonia" during his visit in the country in November 2018, he omitted to use the correct name of the North Macedonia despite the fact that Prespa Agreement having solved the name issue earlier that June.[16]

References

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  1. ^ "Meeting between Rogge and Figeľ on European Council Declaration". Webwire. 26 January 2009. Archived from the original on 18 July 2011. Retrieved 24 February 2011.
  2. ^ "Ján Figeľ, EU Special Envoy for the promotion of freedom of religion". Ján Figeľs official website. Retrieved 13 August 2018.
  3. ^ "President Juncker appoints the first Special Envoy for the promotion of freedom of religion or belief outside the European Union" (Press release). European Union. 6 May 2016. Retrieved 13 August 2018.
  4. ^ Terezani, Michaela (8 September 2009). "EC representative leaves post for KDH chair". The Slovak Spectator. Petit Press. Retrieved 12 October 2011.
  5. ^ "EU-Kommissar für Bildung erschwindelt Doktortitel". Der Spiegel (in German). 21 August 2012. Retrieved 24 August 2012.
  6. ^ "Former E.U. Education Commissioner Faces Ph.D. Inquiry". ScienceInsider. Archived from the original on 27 August 2012. Retrieved 26 August 2012.
  7. ^ "Ministrom dopravy bude Figeľ, vnútro povedie Lipšic". Pravda (in Slovak). 6 July 2010. Retrieved 14 August 2014.
  8. ^ Haughton, Tim; Malova, Darina; Deegan-Krause, Kevin (9 March 2013). "Slovakia's newly elected parliament is dramatically different and pretty much the same". Retrieved 24 August 2018.
  9. ^ "Slovak anti-immigrant premier set for third term". eNCA. Archived from the original on 6 March 2016.
  10. ^ "Elections to the European Parliament 2019 | Final results". Slovak Statistical Office. 26 May 2019. Archived from the original on 13 March 2016. Retrieved 29 May 2019.
  11. ^ "Transport Minister Figeľ plans to donate his 'discount-priced' apartment to charity". The Slovak Spectator. Petit Press. 7 October 2010.
  12. ^ "President Juncker appoints the first Special Envoy for the promotion of freedom of religion or belief outside the European Union". European Union. Retrieved 14 August 2018.
  13. ^ "Systematic mass murder of religious minorities by ISIS – P8_TA(2016)0051". European Parliament. 4 February 2016. Retrieved 14 August 2018.
  14. ^ "GSP Plus linked to Asia Bibi". Business Recorder. 22 January 2018. Retrieved 16 January 2025.
  15. ^ "Asia Bibi Betrayed by EU, Christian Mother's 'Death Warrant May Have Been Signed': Watchdog". The Christian Post. 19 April 2018.
  16. ^ "Jan Figel, Special Envoy for the promotion of Freedom of Religion or Belief | Overview of country visits: main meetings and activities" (PDF). European Commission. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 January 2022. Retrieved 16 January 2025.
[edit]
Political offices
New office Slovak European Commissioner
2004–2009 		Succeeded by
Preceded by European Commissioner for Enterprise and Information Society
2004
Served alongside: Erkki Liikanen, Olli Rehn 		Succeeded byas European Commissioner for Enterprise and Industry
Succeeded byas European Commissioner for Information Society and Media
Preceded byas European Commissioner for Education and Culture European Commissioner for Education, Training, Culture and Multilingualism
2004–2007 		Succeeded by
Himself
as European Commissioner for Education, Training, Culture and Youth
Succeeded byas European Commissioner for Multilingualism
Preceded by
Himself
as European Commissioner for Education, Training, Culture and Multilingualism 		European Commissioner for Education, Training, Culture and Youth
2007–2009 		Succeeded by
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