Margaritis Schinas (

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

: Μαργαρίτης Σχοινάς ; born 28 July 1962) is a Greek politician and former civil servant. He served as vice-president 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 European Commissioner for Promoting our European Way of Life from 2019 to 2024. A member of the

New Democracy New Democracy, or the New Democratic Revolution, is a type of democracy in Marxism, based on Mao Zedong's Bloc of Four Social Classes theory in post-revolutionary China which argued originally that democracy in China would take a path that w ...

party, he previously was a

Member of the European Parliament A member of the European Parliament (MEP) is a person who has been Election, elected to serve as a popular representative in the European Parliament. When the European Parliament (then known as the Common Assembly of the European Coal and S ...

(MEP) from 2007 to 2009 and served as chief spokesperson of the

European Commission The European Commission (EC) is the primary Executive (government), executive arm of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with a number of European Commissioner, members of the Commission (directorial system, informall ...

from 2014 to 2019, and as a deputy director-general of the European Commission's Directorate-General for Communication between 2015 and 2019.

Early life and education

Stemming from a family from Fourka,

Chalkidiki Chalkidiki (; , alternatively Halkidiki), also known as Chalcidice, is a peninsula and regional unit of Greece, part of the region of Central Macedonia, in the geographic region of Macedonia in Northern Greece. The autonomous Mount Athos reg ...

, Schinas studied at Aristotle

University of Thessaloniki The Aristotle University of Thessaloniki ( AUTh; ), often called the University of Thessaloniki, is the second oldest Tertiary education, tertiary education institution in Greece. Named after the philosopher Aristotle, who was born in Stagira (anc ...

, where he received a

Bachelor of Laws A Bachelor of Laws (; LLB) is an undergraduate law degree offered in most common law countries as the primary law degree and serves as the first professional qualification for legal practitioners. This degree requires the study of core legal subje ...

in 1985. He went on to receive a Diploma of Advanced European Studies (DAES) in European Public Administration from the

College of Europe The College of Europe (; ; ) is a post-graduate institute of European studies with three campuses in Bruges, Belgium; Warsaw, Poland; and Tirana, Albania. The College of Europe in Bruges was founded in 1949 as a result of the 1948 Congress of ...

Bruges Bruges ( , ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the province of West Flanders, in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is in the northwest of the country, and is the sixth most populous city in the country. The area of the whole city amoun ...

in 1986, as well as a further

Master of Science A Master of Science (; abbreviated MS, M.S., MSc, M.Sc., SM, S.M., ScM or Sc.M.) is a master's degree. In contrast to the Master of Arts degree, the Master of Science degree is typically granted for studies in sciences, engineering and medici ...

in Public Administration and Policy at the

London School of Economics The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), established in 1895, is a public research university in London, England, and a member institution of the University of London. The school specialises in the social sciences. Founded ...

in 1987. In October 2011, he graduated from the EU-funded "High Potential Leadership" Program of the Harvard University School of Business.

European career

Schinas passed the competition for EU officials in 1989, and started working as a eurocrat in the Directorate-General for Transport of the

and then at the European Commission Representation Office in

Athens Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...

. From 1999 to 2004, he served as Deputy Chief of Staff in the office of Commissioner

Loyola de Palacio Ignacia de Loyola de Palacio y del Valle Lersundi (16 September 1950 – 13 December 2006) was a Spanish politician. She was among the first women to rise to political prominence in Spain during the early years of reconstituted democracy. She ...

, responsible for Transport, Energy and Relations with the European Parliament. From 2004 to 2007 Schinas was head of cabinet of the European Commissioner Markos Kyprianou. Schinas became an MEP for the

party (which is part of the

European People's Party The European People's Party (EPP) is a European political party with Christian democracy, Christian democratic, liberal conservatism, liberal-conservative, and conservative member parties. A transnational organisation, it is composed of other p ...

), following the resignation of

Antonis Samaras Antonis Samaras (, ; born 23 May 1951) is a Greek politician who served as Prime Minister of Greece from 2012 to 2015. A member of the New Democracy (Greece), New Democracy party, he was its president from 2009 until 2015. Samaras started his na ...

from the

European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the two legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it ...

on 25 September 2007. During his time in office, he was a member of the

Committee on Budgets The Committee on Budgets (BUDG) is a committee of the European Parliament. It has 41 members plus 39 substitute members. The committee's current chair is Jean Arthuis, who has held this position since 7 July 2014.2009 European elections 9 (nine) is the natural number following and preceding . Evolution of the Hindu–Arabic digit Circa 300 BC, as part of the Brahmi numerals, various Indians wrote a digit 9 similar in shape to the modern closing question mark without the bot ...

. In 2010, Schinas was appointed Deputy Director of the Bureau of European Policy Advisers by

Commission President The president of the European Commission, also known as president of the College of Commissioners is the head of the European Commission, the executive branch of the European Union (EU). The president of the Commission leads a cabinet of commis ...

Barroso. In April 2013 he was appointed Director at the Commission's

Directorate-General for Economic and Financial Affairs The Directorate-General for Economic and Financial Affairs (DG ECFIN) is a Directorate-General of the European Commission, founded in 1958. It is located in Brussels, Belgium. Its main responsibility is to encourage the development of Economic a ...

. In November 2014, he was appointed acting chief spokesperson for the European Commission, following a proposal from President Jean-Claude Juncker. On 16 December 2015, he was appointed Deputy Director-General of the Directorate-General for Communication of the European Commission. Following the

2019 European election The 2019 European Parliament election was held in the European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states tha ...

, Schinas was nominated to serve in the

as the European Commission vice president for “Protecting our European Way of Life”, responsible for upholding the rule-of-law, migration and internal security. He became the first Greek to hold such a high-ranking position in the Europe's top decision-making body. His portfolio was later renamed into "Promoting our European Way of Life". Among this portfolio's thrusts is the European Commission coordinator on combating antisemitism and fostering Jewish life, held by

Katharina von Schnurbein Baronesse Dr.h.c. Katharina von Schnurbein (born 1973) is a German civil servant who has served as the European Commission's coordinator on combating antisemitism and fostering Jewish life since 2015. She is the first person to hold this role, w ...

since 2015.

Personal life

He speaks Greek, English, French and Spanish. He is married to Mercedes Alvargonzález, a Spanish national, who was like him a student of the

and works for the Secretariat of the

's Parliamentary Group and its President

Manfred Weber Manfred Weber (born 14 July 1972) is a German politician who has been serving as President of the European People's Party (EPP) since 2022 and as Leader of the EPP Group in the European Parliament since 2014. He has been a Member of the European ...

. They have two sons, Stergios and John. Schinas is an

Aris Thessaloniki Athlitikos Syllogos Aris Thessalonikis, means Athletic Club Aris Thessaloniki (), is a major Greece, Greek multi-sport club founded on 25 March 1914 in Thessaloniki. Nicknamed ''God of War'', Aris was one of the strongest Greek clubs during t ...

supporter. In March 2020, Schinas was one of the few persons to participate in the start of the

Tokyo 2020 The officially the and officially branded as were an international multi-sport event that was held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some of the preliminary sporting events beginning on 21 July 2021. Tokyo ...

Olympic torch relay The Olympic torch relay is the ceremonial relaying of the Olympic flame from Olympia, Greece, to the site of an Olympic Games. It was introduced at the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin, as a way for Adolf Hitler to highlight the Nazi claim of Arya ...

- cancelled afterwards due to the

COVID-19 crisis The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. Soon after, ...

- in

Olympia, Greece Olympia ( ; ), officially Archaia Olympia ( ), is a small town in Elis (regional unit), Elis on the Peloponnese peninsula in Greece, famous for the nearby archaeological site of the same name. The site was a major Panhellenic sanctuary, Panhell ...

, as the third torchbearer after two olympic champions, Greek shooter

Anna Korakaki Anna Korakaki (; born 8 April 1996) is a Greek Olympic shooter. Career She represented Greece at the 2016 Summer Olympics, winning a gold medal in the 25m pistol shot event and a Bronze medal in the 10m air pistol shooting event. The Gold med ...

and Japanese marathoner

Mizuki Noguchi is a Japanese professional long-distance runner who specialises in the marathon event. She is an Olympic champion over the distance. Initially starting out as a track and cross country athlete, her first major success was becoming the Asi ...

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Schinas, Margaritis 1962 births Alumni of the London School of Economics College of Europe alumni Greek European commissioners Living people MEPs for Greece 2004–2009 New Democracy (Greece) MEPs Politicians from Thessaloniki European commissioners (2019–2024)