Jutta Urpilainen
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Jutta Pauliina Urpilainen (born 4 August 1975) is a Finnish politician. She was the first female chair of the
Social Democratic Party of Finland The Social Democratic Party of Finland ( , SDP, nicknamed: ''demarit'' in Finnish; , SD) is a social democratic political party in Finland. It is the third-largest party in the Parliament of Finland with a total of 43 seats. Founded in 1899 as ...
, which she led from 2008 to 2014. She was the
Minister of Finance A ministry of finance is a ministry or other government agency in charge of government finance, fiscal policy, and financial regulation. It is headed by a finance minister, an executive or cabinet position . A ministry of finance's portfolio ...
as well as the
Deputy Prime Minister of Finland The Deputy Prime Minister of Finland (, , ''Finland's Prime Minister's Substitute''), officially titled the Minister deputising for the Prime Minister, is a member of the Finnish Government who becomes the acting Prime Minister of Finland, Prime ...
from 2011 to 2014. Between 2019 and 2024, she served as the European Commissioner for International Partnerships in the European Commission led by Ursula von der Leyen. Urpilainen announced her candidacy for the 2024 election for
President of Finland The president of the Republic of Finland (; ) is the head of state of Finland. The incumbent president is Alexander Stubb, since 1 March 2024. He was elected president for the first time in 2024 Finnish presidential election, 2024. The presi ...
in November 2023.


Early life and education

Born in Lapua,
Southern Ostrobothnia South Ostrobothnia ( ; ) is one of the 19 regions of Finland. It borders the regions of Ostrobothnia (administrative region), Ostrobothnia, Central Ostrobothnia, Central Finland, Pirkanmaa, and Satakunta. Among the Finnish regions, South Ostrobo ...
, Urpilainen is the daughter of former politician Kari Urpilainen. She studied at the
University of Jyväskylä A university () is an institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly means "community of teachers and scholars". U ...
, where she graduated with a Master's of Education in 2002. During her undergraduate studies, she spent an
Erasmus Desiderius Erasmus Roterodamus ( ; ; 28 October c. 1466 – 12 July 1536), commonly known in English as Erasmus of Rotterdam or simply Erasmus, was a Dutch Christian humanist, Catholic priest and Catholic theology, theologian, educationalist ...
year in
Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...
. She worked as a school teacher until her election to
Parliament In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...
.


Political career


Early beginnings

Urpilainen served as president of the Young European Federalists of Finland in 2001. She joined the
Kokkola Kokkola (; , ) is a town in Finland and the regional capital of Central Ostrobothnia. It is located on the west coast of the country, on the Gulf of Bothnia. The population of Kokkola is approximately , while the Kokkola sub-region, sub-region h ...
city in 2001.


Member of Parliament and party leadership

Urpilainen was a member of Parliament for the Vaasa constituency from the 2003 national elections. In parliament, she was a member of the Committee on Education and Culture and a deputy member of the Finance Committee. In addition to her parliamentary work, she was also a member of the Advisory Council of the
Finnish Institute of International Affairs The Finnish Institute of International Affairs (FIIA, , , UPI) is an independent research institute that produces topical information and research on international relations and the European Union. It also publishes the journal . It is located i ...
. Urpilainen was elected as the chair of the Social Democratic Party in June 2008, succeeding former
Deputy Prime Minister A deputy prime minister or vice prime minister is, in some countries, a Minister (government), government minister who can take the position of acting prime minister when the prime minister is temporarily absent. The position is often likened to th ...
and
Minister of Finance A ministry of finance is a ministry or other government agency in charge of government finance, fiscal policy, and financial regulation. It is headed by a finance minister, an executive or cabinet position . A ministry of finance's portfolio ...
Eero Heinäluoma Eero Olavi Heinäluoma (born 4 July 1955) is a Finnish politician who has been serving as Member of the European Parliament since 2019. A former chairman of the Social Democratic Party of Finland, he was replaced in the party's leadership by J ...
. She won on the second ballot, defeating former
Minister for Foreign Affairs In many countries, the ministry of foreign affairs (abbreviated as MFA or MOFA) is the highest government department exclusively or primarily responsible for the state's foreign policy and relations, diplomacy, bilateral, and multilateral re ...
Erkki Tuomioja Erkki Sakari Tuomioja (born 1 July 1946) is a Finnish politician and has previously been a member of the Finnish Parliament. From 2000 to 2007 and 2011 to 2015, he served as the minister for foreign affairs. He was president of the Nordic Counc ...
by 218 votes to 132. During her tenure from 2008 until 2014, support for the Social Democrats fell from 21 to 15.5 percent. However, in the 2011 elections, she returned the party to government after four years.


Minister of Finance

After the 2011 parliamentary election, in which the SDP became the second-largest party, Urpilainen was appointed Minister of Finance and Deputy Prime Minister in the
cabinet Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filin ...
led by
Jyrki Katainen Jyrki Tapani Katainen (born 14 October 1971) is a Finnish politician who served as the European Commission's Vice-President for Jobs, Growth, Investment and Competitiveness from 2014 until 2019. Katainen was previously prime minister of Finland f ...
. In this capacity, she also chaired the meetings of the
Nordic Council The Nordic Council is the official body for formal inter-parliamentary Nordic cooperation among the Nordic countries. Formed in 1952, it has 87 representatives from Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden as well as from the autonomo ...
Ministers of Finance in 2012. The surge of the eurosceptic
True Finns The Finns Party ( , PS; , Sannf), formerly known as the True Finns, is a right-wing populist political party in Finland. It was founded in 1995 following the dissolution of the Finnish Rural Party. The party achieved its electoral breakthro ...
party in the 2011 elections sparked a move from the Social Democrats under Urpilainen to toughen their stance on the euro significantly, leading Finland to become the only country to demand collateral from Greece and Spain as part of their international rescues. On 6 July 2012, Urpilainen said the following on her website: "Finland would prefer to consider leaving the
Eurozone The euro area, commonly called the eurozone (EZ), is a Monetary union, currency union of 20 Member state of the European Union, member states of the European Union (EU) that have adopted the euro (Euro sign, €) as their primary currency ...
rather than to pay other countries' debts in the currency area." International news media, such as ''
The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a British daily broadsheet conservative newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed in the United Kingdom and internationally. It was found ...
'', misinterpreted the statement as a threat that Finland would leave the
eurozone The euro area, commonly called the eurozone (EZ), is a Monetary union, currency union of 20 Member state of the European Union, member states of the European Union (EU) that have adopted the euro (Euro sign, €) as their primary currency ...
. Urpilainen's assistant Matti Hirvola later clarified her statements and that she had meant that Finland did not wish to be responsible for paying other countries' debt deposits. Only one month later, Urpilainen had to revise the government's growth target for that fiscal year down to zero as exports slowed; the only Eurozone countries that fared worse were Greece and Portugal. Urpilainen sought another term as party chair in the Social Democratic Party's 2014 party conference in May. She was narrowly defeated by her challenger,
Antti Rinne Antti Juhani Rinne (; born 3 November 1962) is a Finnish politician who served as speaker of the Parliament of Finland from April to June 2019 and Prime Minister of Finland from June to December 2019. He led the Social Democratic Party from 2 ...
, in a 257 to 243 vote. Urpilainen subsequently stepped down as the Minister of Finance in June. Ahead of the 2018 presidential elections, Urpilainen was widely mentioned as a potential candidate. By February 2017, she announced she would not seek the presidency. From 2017 until 2019, Urpilainen served as
Minister of Foreign Affairs In many countries, the ministry of foreign affairs (abbreviated as MFA or MOFA) is the highest government department exclusively or primarily responsible for the state's foreign policy and foreign relations, relations, diplomacy, bilateralism, ...
Timo Soini Timo Juhani Soini (born 30 May 1962) is a Finnish politician who is the co-founder and former leader of the Finns Party. He served as Deputy Prime Minister of Finland from 2015 to 2017 and Minister of Foreign Affairs (Finland), Minister of Foreig ...
’s Special Representative on Mediation.


European Commissioner

On 1 December 2019, Urpilainen assumed the office of European Commissioner in the
Von der Leyen Commission Von der Leyen Commission refers to either of two consecutive European Commissions headed by Ursula von der Leyen: * Von der Leyen Commission I (2019–2024) * Von der Leyen Commission II The second von der Leyen Commission is the current Euro ...
, with the portfolio of international partnerships. In 2023,
United Nations Secretary-General The secretary-general of the United Nations (UNSG or UNSECGEN) is the chief administrative officer of the United Nations and head of the United Nations Secretariat, one of the United Nations System#Six principal organs, six principal organs of ...
 
António Guterres António Manuel de Oliveira Guterres (born 30 April 1949) is a Portuguese politician and diplomat who is serving as the ninth and current secretary-general of the United Nations since 2017. A member of the Socialist Party (Portugal), ...
appointed Urpilainen as one of 22 members of the Scaling Up Nutrition (SUN) Movement's lead group. Also since 2023, she has also been a member of the United Nations High-level Panel on the Teaching Profession, co-chaired by
Kersti Kaljulaid Kersti Kaljulaid (; born 30 December 1969) is an Estonia, Estonian politician who served as the fifth president of Estonia between 2016 and 2021, and was its first and only female head of state since the country declared independence in 1918. S ...
and
Paula-Mae Weekes Paula-Mae Weekes (born 23 December 1958) is a Trinidad and Tobago politician and jurist who was the sixth president of Trinidad and Tobago from 2018 to 2023. She is the first female President of Trinidad and Tobago, as well as the second female ...
. On 16 August 2023, the chairman of the Social Democratic Party
Sanna Marin Sanna Mirella Marin (; born 16 November 1985) is a Finnish former politician who served as prime minister of Finland from 2019 to 2023 and as the leader of the Social Democratic Party of Finland (SDP) from 2020 to 2023. She was a Member of Pa ...
asked Urpilainen to run in the
2024 Finnish presidential election Presidential elections were held in Finland on 28 January 2024, with a second round held on 11 February. Voters elected a President of Finland, president of the Republic for a six-year term. Incumbent president Sauli Niinistö was term-limited a ...
as the party's candidate. After months of consideration, Urpilainen announced her candidacy in November 2023. In the election, she received 4.34% of the total vote count and failed to advance to the second round of voting.


Other activities


European Union organizations

*
European Investment Bank The European Investment Bank (EIB) is the European Union's investment bank and is owned by the 27 member states. It is the largest multilateral financial institution in the world. The EIB finances and invests both through equity and debt sol ...
(EIB), Ex-Officio Member of the Board of Governors (2011–2014) *
European Stability Mechanism The European Stability Mechanism (ESM) is an intergovernmental organization located in Luxembourg City, which operates under public international law for all eurozone member states having ratified a special ESM intergovernmental treaty. It was ...
(ESM), Member of the Board of Governors (2012–2014)


International organizations

* Joint World Bank-IMF Development Committee, Member (2013–2014) *
European Bank for Reconstruction and Development The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, shortened to EBRD ( French: ''Banque européenne pour la reconstruction et le développement'' or ''BERD''), is an international financial institution founded in 1991 in Paris. As a multilat ...
(EBRD), Ex-Officio Member of the Board of Governors (2011–2014) *
Nordic Investment Bank The Nordic Investment Bank (NIB) is an international financial institution founded in 1975 by the five Nordic countries (Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden). In 2005, the three Baltic states (Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania) also becam ...
(NIB), Ex-Officio Member of the Board of Governors (2011–2014) *
Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency The Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA) is an international financial institution which offers political risk insurance and credit enhancement guarantees. These guarantees help investors protect foreign direct investments against ...
(MIGA),
World Bank Group The World Bank Group (WBG) is a family of five international organizations that make leveraged loans to developing countries. It is the largest and best-known development bank in the world and an observer at the United Nations Development Group ...
, Ex-Officio Member of the Board of Governors (2011–2014) *
World Bank The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and Grant (money), grants to the governments of Least developed countries, low- and Developing country, middle-income countries for the purposes of economic development ...
, Ex-Officio Member of the Board of Governors (2011–2014)


Corporate boards

*
Veikkaus Veikkaus Oy is the Finnish government-owned betting agency which holds a monopoly in the country. It was formed in 2017 as a merger of three previously existing betting and gambling agencies of Veikkaus, Fintoto and Finland's Slot Machine As ...
, Member of the Board of Directors (2017–2018)


Non-profit organizations

*
European Council on Foreign Relations The European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR) is a pan-European think tank with offices in seven European capitals. Launched in October 2007, it conducts research on European foreign and security policy and provides a meeting space for decis ...
(ECFR), Member of the Council (since 2023) *
Crisis Management Initiative CMI – Martti Ahtisaari Peace Foundation sr (in 2000–2021 ''Crisis Management Initiative ry'') is an independent Finnish non-governmental organisation that works to prevent and resolve conflict through informal dialogue and mediation. Nobel P ...
(CMI), Member of the Board (since 2019) * Finnish National Opera Foundation, Member of the Board (2017–2018) * Finnish Innovation Fund (SITRA), Member of the Supervisory Board (2017–2018) * Finnish National Commission for UNESCO, Chair (2015–2018)


Personal life

Urpilainen is married to Juha Mustonen, an official in the Finnish Ministry for Foreign Affairs . In 2017 and 2019, they adopted two children from
Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...
. In 2002, Urpilainen recorded a Christmas album called “Christmassy thoughts” featuring versions of “
Winter Wonderland "Winter Wonderland" is a song written in 1934 by Felix Bernard and lyricist Richard Bernhard Smith. Due to its seasonal theme, it is often regarded as a Christmas song in the Northern Hemisphere. Since its original recording by Richard Himb ...
” and “
Jingle Bells "Jingle Bells" is one of the most commonly sung Christmas songs in the world. It was written by James Lord Pierpont. It is an unsettled question where and when Pierpont originally composed the song that would become known as "Jingle Bells". It ...
.”Suomen kansallisdiskografia
search keywords: Jouluisia ajatuksia


References


External links

*
Official website
*
Official website
, - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Urpilainen, Jutta 1975 births Living people People from Lapua Finnish Lutherans Leaders of the Social Democratic Party of Finland Deputy prime ministers of Finland Ministers of finance of Finland Members of the Parliament of Finland (2003–2007) Members of the Parliament of Finland (2007–2011) Members of the Parliament of Finland (2011–2015) Members of the Parliament of Finland (2015–2019) Members of the Parliament of Finland (2019–2023) Finnish European commissioners Women European commissioners Women government ministers of Finland Women members of the Parliament of Finland Female finance ministers 21st-century Finnish women politicians European commissioners (2019–2024)