Nicolas Schmit (born 10 December 1953) is a politician from

Luxembourg Luxembourg ( ; lb, Lëtzebuerg ; french: link=no, Luxembourg; german: link=no, Luxemburg), officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, ; french: link=no, Grand-Duché de Luxembourg ; german: link=no, Großherzogtum Luxemburg is a small lan ...

serving as European Commissioner for Jobs and Social Rights since 2019. A member of the

Luxembourg Socialist Workers' Party The Luxembourg Socialist Workers' Party ( lb, Lëtzebuerger Sozialistesch Aarbechterpartei, french: Parti ouvrier socialiste luxembourgeois, german: Luxemburger Sozialistische Arbeiterpartei), abbreviated to LSAP or POSL, is a social-democratic, pr ...

(LSAP), he was previously a member of the government of Luxembourg from 2004 to 2019 and a

Member of the European Parliament A Member of the European Parliament (MEP) is a person who has been elected to serve as a popular representative in the European Parliament. When the European Parliament (then known as the Common Assembly of the ECSC) first met in 1952, its ...

(MEP) in 2019.

Early life and education

Schmit studied economics in France at the Institut d'études politiques d'Aix-en-Provence.

Career

In 1979, Schmit started his political and diplomatic career as an attaché in the

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister i ...

's office in Luxembourg, followed by the Foreign Ministry. In 1989, he became Secretary to the LSAP's delegation in the Chamber of Deputies. He was appointed to the

Council of State A Council of State is a governmental body in a country, or a subdivision of a country, with a function that varies by jurisdiction. It may be the formal name for the cabinet or it may refer to a non-executive advisory body associated with a head o ...

on 29 October 1991, replacing René Grégorius. In 2004, Schmit was appointed to the first Juncker-Asselborn Ministry as Minister-Delegate for Foreign Affairs and Immigration, working under

Jean Asselborn Jean Asselborn (; born 27 April 1949) is a Luxembourgish politician who has served in the government of Luxembourg as Minister for Foreign Affairs since 2004. He also served as Deputy Prime Minister from 2004 to 2013, under Prime Minister Jean- ...

Minister for Foreign Affairs A foreign affairs minister or minister of foreign affairs (less commonly minister for foreign affairs) is generally a cabinet minister in charge of a state's foreign policy and relations. The formal title of the top official varies between cou ...

. After the 2009 election, in which Schmit was elected for the Est constituency as the sole LSAP deputy, he did not take his seat but was reappointed to the government. He was promoted to the office of Minister of Labour, Employment and Immigration of Luxembourg. He is the chairman of the EPSCO network of the

Party of European Socialists The Party of European Socialists (PES) is a social democratic and progressive European political party. The PES comprises national-level political parties from all member states of the European Union (EU) plus Norway and the United Kingdom. ...

. Since the 2019 European elections, Schmit has been a

, where he belongs to the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats (S&D) group. He has since been serving on the

Committee on Employment and Social Affairs The Committee on Employment and Social Affairs (EMPL) is a committee of the European Parliament. It is responsible for issues of employment and social policy, including labour rights, social security, inclusion, free movement for workers and pensio ...

Controversy

In January 2011,

Xavier Bettel Xavier Bettel (; born 3 March 1973) is a Luxembourger lawyer and politician serving as Prime Minister of Luxembourg since 2013. He was previously a member of the Chamber of Deputies (1999–2013) and Mayor of Luxembourg City (2011–2013). Be ...

claimed that Schmit exerted undue influence on the Grand Ducal Police to drop charges against his 18-year-old son the previous month. Schmit denied that his assistance of his son amounted to undue influence, saying that his 'conscience is clear'.

Personal life

He is married and has four children.Ein Mann will nach oben - land.lu - Pol Schock - September 13, 2019
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Footnotes

External links

1953 births Living people Luxembourg Socialist Workers' Party politicians Luxembourgian European Commissioners Luxembourgian expatriates in France Members of the Council of State of Luxembourg MEPs for Luxembourg 2019–2024 Sciences Po Aix alumni European Commissioners 2019–2024 {{Luxembourg-politician-stub