Erkki Antero Liikanen (born 19 September 1950) is a Finnish

social democratic Social democracy is a political, social, and economic philosophy within socialism that supports political and economic democracy. As a policy regime, it is described by academics as advocating economic and social interventions to promote so ...

politician and a former Governor of the

Bank of Finland The Bank of Finland ( fi, Suomen Pankki, sv, Finlands Bank) is the central bank of Finland. It views itself as the fourth oldest surviving central bank in the world, after Sweden's Riksbank, the Bank of England, and the Bank of France. History ...

Early life and education

Erkki Antero Liikanen obtained a bachelor’s degree in Political Science (Economics) from the

University of Helsinki The University of Helsinki ( fi, Helsingin yliopisto, sv, Helsingfors universitet, abbreviated UH) is a public research university located in Helsinki, Finland since 1829, but founded in the city of Turku (in Swedish ''Åbo'') in 1640 as the R ...

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 A finance minister is an executive or cabinet position in charge of one or more of government finances, economic policy and financial regulation. A finance minister's portfolio has a large variety of names around the world, such as "treasury", ...

in the

Holkeri Cabinet The cabinet of Harri Holkeri was the 64th government of Finland, which existed from 30 April 1987 to 26 April 1991. It was a majority government formed by the National Coalition Party, the Social Democratic Party, the Swedish People's Party, and ...

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 The European Commission (EC) is the executive of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with 27 members of the Commission (informally known as "Commissioners") headed by a President. It includes an administrative body ...

. He was Commissioner for Budget, Personnel and administration, which included responsibilities for translation and information technology. Liikanen served as Governor of the

from 12 July 2004. As such he also became a Member of the Governing Council of the

European Central Bank The European Central Bank (ECB) is the prime component of the monetary Eurosystem and the European System of Central Banks (ESCB) as well as one of seven institutions of the European Union. It is one of the world's most important centra ...

(2004–2018) and Governor of the

International Monetary Fund The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is a major financial agency of the United Nations, and an international financial institution, headquartered in Washington, D.C., consisting of 190 countries. Its stated mission is "working to foster glo ...

for Finland (2004–2018). In February 2012,

EU Commissioner A European Commissioner is a member of the 27-member European Commission. Each member within the Commission holds a specific portfolio. The commission is led by the President of the European Commission. In simple terms they are the equivalent ...

Michel Barnier Michel Barnier (born 9 January 1951) is a French politician who served as the European Commission's Head of Task Force for Relations with the United Kingdom (UK Task Force/UKTF) from 2019 to 2021. He previously served as Chief Negotiator, Task ...

asked Liikanen to chair a group of experts to assess the need for structural reforms to the EU

banking A bank is a financial institution that accepts deposits from the public and creates a demand deposit while simultaneously making loans. Lending activities can be directly performed by the bank or indirectly through capital markets. Because ...

sector. Their works is known as the

Liikanen report The Liikanen Report or "Report of the European Commission’s High-level Expert Group on Bank Structural Reform" (known as the "Liikanen Group") is a set of recommendations published in October 2012 by a group of experts led by Erkki Liikanen, gover ...

was published on 2 October 2012. Liikanen was also the chairman of

Finnish Red Cross The Finnish Red Cross (FRC, fi, Suomen Punainen Risti, sv, Finlands Röda Kors) is an independent member of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, which is one of the biggest and best-known international organis ...

between June 2008 and June 2014. In early 2019, a ''

Reuters Reuters ( ) is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters Corporation. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide. Reuters is one of the largest news agencies in the world. The agency was est ...

'' poll of economists found that while

Benoît Cœuré Benoît Georges Cœuré (; born 17 March 1969) is a French economist who has been serving as President of the ''Autorité de la concurence'' since 2022. He previously served as a member of the Executive Board of the European Central Bank from 2 ...

was considered best-suited for the role as

President of the European Central Bank The president of the European Central Bank is the head of the European Central Bank (ECB), the main institution responsible for the management of the euro and monetary policy in the Eurozone of the European Union (EU). The current presiden ...

, 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

* 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

(ECB), Member of the Ethics Committee (since 2018) *

(IMF), Ex-Officio Member of the Board of Governors

Non-profit organizations

* 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 The Trilateral Commission is a nongovernmental international organization aimed at fostering closer cooperation between Japan, Western Europe and North America. It was founded in July 1973 principally by American banker and philanthropist David ...

, Member of the European Group

Personal life

Liikanen is married to Hanna-Liisa Liikanen and they have two daughters.

Literary work

* Brysselin päiväkirjat 1990–1994 (edited by Eila Nevalainen)

References

External links

Homepage of Erkki Liikanen

Curriculum Vitae of Erkki Liikanen
, - , - , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Liikanen, Erkki 1950 births Finnish European Commissioners Governors of the Bank of Finland Living people Members of the Parliament of Finland (1972–75) Members of the Parliament of Finland (1975–79) Members of the Parliament of Finland (1979–83) Members of the Parliament of Finland (1983–87) Members of the Parliament of Finland (1987–91) Ministers of Finance of Finland People from Mikkeli Permanent Representatives of Finland to the European Union Social Democratic Party of Finland politicians University of Helsinki alumni Bruegel (think tank) people