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Margaritis Schinas

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Person.png Margaritis Schinas  Rdf-entity.pngRdf-icon.png
(politician)
Margaritis Schinas (Greece).jpg
Born28 July 1962
NationalityGreek
Alma materAristotle University of Thessaloniki, College of Europe, London School of Economics
PartyNew Democracy (Greece)
Greek bureaucrat who has spent his entire career in the EU system. Attended the 2022 Bilderberg as Vice-President of the European Commission, envisaging an "European Health Union".

Employment.png Vice-President of the European Commission Wikipedia-icon.png

In office
1 December 2019 - Present
Preceded byFrans Timmermans

Employment.png Chief Spokesperson for the European Commission

In office
1 November 2014 - 18 July 2019

Margaritis Schinas is a Greek bureaucrat who has spent his entire career in the EU system. He attended the 2022 Bilderberg meeting as Vice-President of the European Commission.

A supporter of vaccine passports, he envisaged Covid as the start of an European Health Union with an Health Emergency Preparedness and Response Authority doling out money to Big Pharma to ensure "rapid availability of countermeasures", and an European Health Data Space collecting digitalized health data.[1]

Early life and education

Stemming from a family from Fourka, Chalkidiki, Schinas studied at Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, where he received a Bachelor of Laws in 1985.[2] He went on to receive a Diploma of Advanced European Studies (DAES) in European Public Administration from the College of Europe in Bruges in 1986, as well as a further Master of Science in Public Administration and Policy at the London School of Economics in 1987.[3]

In October 2011, he graduated from the EU-funded "High Potential Leadership" Program of the Harvard University School of Business.

Career

In 1989 he took part in the examinations for EU officials and started working at the Directorate-General for Transport and then at the European Commission's Representation Office in Athens. From 1999 to 2004 he was Deputy Head of the Office of the Vice President of Loyola De Palacio, responsible for Transport, Energy and relations with the European Parliament. From 2004 to 2007 and head of the Office of the European Commissioner of Cyprus Markos Kyprianou (2004-2007).

He became an MEP in 2007 when he took the place of Antonis Samaras, who left the European Parliament in order to return to Greek politics.

In 2010 he was appointed deputy director of the Office of European policy advisers by then Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso.

In April 2013, he became director-general of the Directorate-General for Economic and financial affairs of the European Commission. In 2013 and 2014 he returned to Athens, where he became coordinator, on behalf of the European Commission, of all the teams that provided technical assistance to Greece.

Since November 2014, he has been acting as chief spokesman of the European Commission, following a proposal from its President Jean-Claude Juncker. From 16 December 2015, he became Deputy Director-General of the Communication Directorate of the European Commission.

On 18 July 2019, it was announced that the prime minister of Greece Kyriakos Mitsotakis would propose Margaritis Schinas for the position of Greek European Commissioner to the new president of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen.

On 10 September 2019, the president-elect of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, announced the appointment of Vice-President of the commission responsible for protecting our European way of life to Margaritis Schinas. Although Margaritis Schinas was applauded as a choice, the name of his portfolio provoked reactions mainly due to the xenophobic interpretation of the title "Protecting our European way of life" and then changed to "promoting the European way of life" after continuous objections from the European Parliament.

Covid

In 2021, he supported vaccine passports: "Vaccination certificates have to be recorded. A common EU approach to trusted, reliable and verifiable certificates would allow people to use their records in other Member States. It would also open the door to other uses to help lift restrictions."[4]


In order to pursue efficiently the fight of the COVID-19 pandemic and to anticipate future health emergencies, we need to equip the EU to better prevent, protect and manage health crises. We need to have a reinforced framework of coordination at the European level. A strong European Health Union will not only protect our health. It will also protect our way of life, our economies and our model of society.

This year still, we will present further proposals to complete the Health Union under construction. This will include the creation of a Health Emergency Preparedness and Response Authority (HERA) that is meant to address gaps in foresight, including demand/supply dimensions, with better EU preparedness and response to serious cross-border health threats, by enabling rapid availability, access and distribution of needed countermeasures.

In addition, we will launch the European Health Data Space. Using digitalisation to its full potential and offering secure access to health data will benefit health research and decision-making and improve healthcare delivery.[1]


Family

He is married to the Spanish Mercedes Alvargonzález, who works in the Secretariat of the Parliamentary Group of the European People's Party. They have two sons, Stergios and Giannis.


 

Events Participated in

EventStartEndLocation(s)Description
Bilderberg/20222 June 20225 June 2022US
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
Munich Security Conference/202218 February 202220 February 2022Germany
Munich
Bavaria
Slightly less than 1/3 of the 664 of the participants have pages here
Munich Security Conference/202317 February 202319 February 2023Germany
Munich
Bavaria
Annual conference of mid-level functionaries from the military-industrial complex - politicians, propagandists and lobbyists. The real decisions are made by deep politicians behind the scenes, elsewhere.
Munich Security Conference/202416 February 202418 February 2024Germany
Munich
Bavaria
Annual conference of mid-level functionaries from the military-industrial complex - politicians, propagandists and lobbyists - in their own bubble, far from the concerns of their subjects
Many thanks to our Patrons who cover ~2/3 of our hosting bill. Please join them if you can.


References