Erkki Liikanen

Erkki Liikanen   (central banker)
Born	19 September 1950 Mikkeli, Finland
Nationality	Finnish
Spouse	Hanna-Liisa Issakainen
Member of	Bilderberg/Steering committee, Trilateral Commission
Party	Social Democratic Party of Finland
Finnish central banker, European Commissioner who was mooted as candidate for President of the European Central Bank in 2019  Governor of Bank of Finland In office 12 July 2004 - 12 July 2018 Preceded by Matti Vanhala Succeeded by Olli Rehn Mooted as candidate for President of the European Central Bank in 2019  European Commissioner for Industry Entrepreneurship and SMEs In office 17 September 1999 - 11 July 2004  European Commissioner for Budget Personnel and Administration In office 25 January 1995 - 17 September 1999  Finland/Minister of Finance In office 30 April 1987 - 28 February 1990  Finland/Member of Parliament In office 22 January 1972 - 31 August 1990

Erkki Antero Liikanen is a Finnish social democratic politician and a former Governor of the Bank of Finland.

He attended 4 Bilderberg meetings, in 1999 as European Commissioner; in 2005 as newly appointed Governor of Bank of Finland; in 2019 when mooted as candidate for President of the European Central Bank; and in 2022.

He is a member of the Trilateral Commission.

Background

Erkki Antero Liikanen obtained a bachelor’s degree in Political Science (Economics) from the University of Helsinki in 1975.

Political career

Liikanen was elected to the Finnish Parliament in 1972 when he was only 21 years old. Liikanen was appointed as the Minister of Finance in the Holkeri Cabinet in 1987. He left Parliament in 1990 to become the first Finnish Ambassador to the European Union.

In 1994 he became the first Finnish Member of the European Commission. He was Commissioner for Budget, Personnel and administration, which included responsibilities for translation and information technology.

Liikanen was Governor of the Bank of Finland from 12 July 2004. As such he also became a Member of the Governing Council of the European Central Bank (2004–2018) and Governor of the International Monetary Fund for Finland (2004–2018).

In February 2012, EU Commissioner Michel Barnier asked Liikanen to chair a group of experts to assess the need for structural reforms to the EU banking sector. Their works is known as the Liikanen report was published on 2 October 2012.

Liikanen was also the chairman of Finnish Red Cross between June 2008 and June 2014.

In early 2019, a Reuters poll of economists found that while Benoît Cœuré was considered best-suited for the role as President of the European Central Bank, the most likely compromise candidate was Liikanen.

Positions held

• Chairman of the Board of the Bank of Finland, 12 July 2004– (Present position)
• 1995–2004 Member of the European Commission, Brussels
• 1990–1994 Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Head of Finnish Mission to the European Union, Brussels
• 1987–1990 Minister of Finance
• 1983–1987 Parliamentary Trustee to the Bank of Finland (Vice-Chairman), Speaker's Council
• 1981–1987 Secretary-General of the Social Democratic Party
• 1980–1989 Member and subsequently Chairman of the Supervisory Board of the Outokumpu (steel)
• 1978, 1982, 1988 Elected as Member of the Electoral College to select the Finnish President
• 1972–1990 Member of Parliament; member of Cultural Affairs Committee (1972–1975), Agriculture and Forestry Committee (Vice-Chairman) (1977–1979), Foreign Affairs Committee (member 1975–1982; Chairman 1983–1987)

Other activities

International organizations

• European Central Bank (ECB), Member of the Ethics Committee (since 2018)
• Bruegel, Chair of the Board (since 2020)
• Bilderberg Group, Member of the Steering Committee
• Systemic Risk Council (SRC), Member of the Advisory Board
• Trilateral Commission, Member of the European Group

 

Events Participated in

Event	Start	End	Location(s)	Description
Bilderberg/1999	3 June 1999	6 June 1999	Portugal Sintra	The 47th Bilderberg, 111 participants
Bilderberg/2005	5 May 2005	8 May 2005	Germany Rottach-Egern	The 53rd Bilderberg, 132 guests
Bilderberg/2019	30 May 2019	2 June 2019	Switzerland Montreux	The 67th Bilderberg Meeting
Bilderberg/2022	2 June 2022	5 June 2022	US Washington DC Mandarin Oriental Hotel	The 68th Bilderberg Meeting, held in Washington DC, after an unprecedented two year hiatus during which a lot of the Bilderberg regulars were busy managing COVID-19
Bilderberg/2023	18 May 2023	21 May 2023	Portugal Lisbon Pestana Palace Hotel	The 69th Bilderberg Meeting, held in Lisbon, with 128 guests on the official list. The earliest in the year since 2009.
Bilderberg/2024	30 May 2024	2 June 2024	Spain Madrid	The 70th Bilderberg Meeting
WEF/Annual Meeting/2004	21 January 2004	25 January 2004	World Economic Forum Switzerland	2068 billionaires, CEOs and their politicians and "civil society" leaders met under the slogan Partnering for Prosperity and Security. "We have the people who matter," said World Economic Forum Co-Chief Executive Officer José María Figueres.

Many thanks to our Patrons who cover ~2/3 of our hosting bill. Please join them if you can.