Pat Cox
Pat Cox has worked as an academic economist, a broadcaster and a politician and today is involved in a mixed portfolio of activities. He was President of the European Parliament from 2002-2004. He worked as a current affairs reporter/presenter with RTE from 1982-1986 and was appointed as General Secretary of the newly formed Progressive democrats in 1986. He was elected as MEP for the Munster constituency from 1989-2004 and was president of the ELDR Group in the European Parliament prior to his election as Parliament president. Currently he is President of the Jean Monnet Foundation for Europe, Switzerland; a member of the Board of Trustees, Friends of Europe, Belgium; Leader of Needs Assessment Mission on parliamentary reform for the European Parliament and the Verkhovna Rada, Kiev, Ukraine; European Coordinator for the Scandinavian-Mediterranean TEN T Core Network (transport) Corridor, EU. He also is President of the Alliance Française, Dublin; Honorary Vice President of the European Movement Ireland; Member of the Board Third Age Foundation, Ireland and in addition to being appointed to the Board of the IIEA in November 2016 is a Senior Fellow of the IIEA. He is a member of the Supervisory Board of Michelin, France; the European Advisory Council Liberty Global, Netherlands; a member of Yalta European Strategy (YES), Ukraine; and Chairperson of the Public Interest Committee, KPMG, Ireland. He has received Honorary Doctorates from Trinity College Dublin, the National University of Ireland, the University of Limerick, the American University Ireland and the Open University. He is a Commandeur de la Légion d’Honneur, France and has been awarded national honours by Austria, Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Italy, Poland and Romania. As MEP his work was recognised by the award of the European Voice MEP of the Year 2001, Brussels; the European Movement’s Irish European of the year, 2002; the European Voice Campaigner of the Year 2003, Brussels; the Polish Business Oscar, 2003; the Inaugural AmCham EU Transatlantic Business Award, 2004 and for his contribution to EU enlargement he was awarded Germany’s prestigious Charlemagne Prize, Aachen, 2004.