Janusz Antoni Lewandowski

Janusz Antoni Lewandowski’s Background

Janusz Antoni Lewandowski was born 13 June 1951 in Lublin is a Polish economist and politician.

In 1974 he obtained a master’s degree at the University of Gdańsk, and in 1984 he was awarded a doctoral degree at the same university. In the years 1974-1983 he was an academic teacher at the University of Gdańsk. Later, he worked in the Polish Ocean Lines, founded the Institute for Market Economy Research in Gdańsk, and is the chairman of the founders’ council of this institute.

Współzałożyciel Kongresu Liberalno-Demokratycznego i jego przewodniczący w latach 1990–1991. Poseł na Sejm I, III i IV kadencji (1991–1993 i 1997–2004), minister przekształceń własnościowych w rządzie Jana Krzysztofa Bieleckiego (1991) i rządzie Hanny Suchockiej (1992–1993), poseł do Parlamentu Europejskiego V, VI, VII, VIII i IX kadencji (2004–2010 i od 2014), w latach 2010–2014 komisarz UE ds. budżetu i programowania finansowego.

Political activity

In the years 1980-1989 he was an economic advisor to “Solidarity”, and in 1988 he was a co-founder of the Liberal Democratic Congress from the environment of the so-called Gdańsk liberals. He became the chairman of this political initiative. He served as Minister of Ownership Transformations in the governments of Jan Krzysztof Bielecki (1991) and Hanna Suchocka (1992–1993). He led to the launch of the stock exchange and the development of the Universal Privatization Program. He also sat in the Sejm of the first term (1991–1993).

After the electoral defeat of the KLD in 1993, he worked from 1994 to 1997 as an expert m.in abroad. After the merger of his former party with the Democratic Union into one party, he became a member of the Freedom Union. From the LIST OF THE UNIVERSITY of Warsaw he entered the Sejm of the third term in 1997. In 2001 he joined the Civic Platform, obtaining the mandate of a deputy of the fourth term in the Gdańsk district. He sat in the national authorities of the Civic Platform (PO).

In 1997, the prosecutor filed an indictment against him, alleging that as the minister of ownership transformations he was to act to the detriment of public and private interests, exceeding his powers and failing to fulfil his duties during the privatization of two Krakow state-owned companies in the early 90s. In March 2005, the court of first instance acquitted him of these charges. In January 2006, the judgment was set aside and the case was referred back to the Court. Finally, in March 2009, the District Court in Krakow finally acquitted Janusz Lewandowski.

In the period from April 2003 to April 2004 he was an observer at the European Parliament, and then an MEP of the fifth term as part of the national delegation. In the European elections in 2004 he was elected to the EP for the sixth term from the list of the Civic Platform in the Gdańsk district. He received 79,879 votes (20.17%, which was the best result in the region). He was chairman of the European Parliament’s committee on budgets for 2.5 years, then became its vice-chairman. In the 2009 European elections, he successfully ran for re-election, again winning in his constituency.

In 2009 he was nominated by the government as the Polish Commissioner for Financial Programming and Budget in the Second Commission josé Barroso. On 11 January 2010, the European Parliament held a hearing as a candidate for the European Commission. On 9 February 2010 the European Parliament approved the composition of the European Commission, and as a consequence Janusz Lewandowski lost his MEP mandate.

In 2014, he was again elected to the European Parliament from the PO list. Therefore, on 1 July 2014 he resigned from his position in the European Commission.

In January 2015, he was appointed by Prime Minister Ewa Kopacz as the chairman of the Economic Council under the Prime Minister. He left office in November of the same year. In 2016, he became a member of the PO’s team of economic advisors.

In 2019, he ran in the Elections to the European Parliament from the first place in the constituency no. 1 of the European Coalition list. He received the support of 120,990 voters and retained his mandate as an MEP for the ninth term.

He is the author of a book about famous liberals, as well as articles and columns for newspapers and magazines, such as “Rzeczpospolita”, “Gazeta Wyborcza”, “Parkiet”, “Polityka”, “Wprost” and “Newsweek Polska. He was the first in 1993 to win the “Giant” award granted by the Poznań branch of “Gazeta Wyborcza”, in 1993 he received the Kisiel Award.