Petr Mach (born 6 May 1975) is a

Czech Czech may refer to: * Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe ** Czech language ** Czechs, the people of the area ** Czech culture ** Czech cuisine * One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus *Czech (surnam ...

economist An economist is a professional and practitioner in the social sciences, social science discipline of economics. The individual may also study, develop, and apply theories and concepts from economics and write about economic policy. Within this ...

and former Member of the European Parliament. Mach is the founder of the Party of Free Citizens, which he led until 2017 when he was replaced by Tomáš Pajonk.

Early career

Mach worked as an executive director of the Center for Economics and Politics in Prague from 1999 to 2009, and as an external economic adviser to Czech President Václav Klaus from 2003 to 2007, with whom he shares enthusiasm for the

free market In economics, a free market is an economic market (economics), system in which the prices of goods and services are determined by supply and demand expressed by sellers and buyers. Such markets, as modeled, operate without the intervention of ...

economy and

euroscepticism Euroscepticism, also spelled as Euroskepticism or EU-scepticism, is a political position involving criticism of the European Union (EU) and European integration. It ranges from those who oppose some EU institutions and policies and seek reform ...

. In 2003, Mach earned a

PhD A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

from the Department of Monetary Theory and Policy of the University of Economics, Prague.

Political career

Party of Free Citizens

Having previously been chair of the Young Conservatives, the youth wing of the Civic Democratic Party (ODS), Mach left ODS at the end of 2007 after the party moved to a position of support for the

Treaty of Lisbon The Treaty of Lisbon (initially known as the Reform Treaty) is a European agreement that amends the two treaties which form the constitutional basis of the European Union (EU). The Treaty of Lisbon, which was signed by all EU member states o ...

. He established a new party, the Party of Free Citizens, in 2009, and was re-elected as party leader in 2010, 2012, 2013, and 2015. In September 2010, Mach addressed the

UK Independence Party The UK Independence Party (UKIP, ) is a Eurosceptic, right-wing populist political party in the United Kingdom. The party reached its greatest level of success in the mid-2010s, when it gained two members of parliament (both through defect ...

(UKIP) annual conference and praised Václav Klaus for his opposition to the Lisbon Treaty. He addressed the UKIP party conference again in 2014 following their victory in the European parliament election.

Resignations and departure from politics

On 10 December 2016, Mach resigned as chair of the Party of Free Citizens due to disputes about party direction, but returned to the office and was re-elected party chairman on 22 January 2017. Mach announced his resignation as a member of the European Parliament on 31 August 2017, stating that he wanted to fully concentrate on the parliamentary election campaign. He was replaced by Jiří Payne. Mach resigned as party leader in October after poor results in the parliamentary election, and finished second behind Tomáš Pajonk in the subsequent leadership election. In 2018, Mach decided not to run for election again and announced his departure from politics.

Return to politics

In September 2019, Mach was announced as a member of the Tricolour Citizens' Movement, and addressed their party conference in

Brno Brno ( , ; ) is a Statutory city (Czech Republic), city in the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic. Located at the confluence of the Svitava (river), Svitava and Svratka (river), Svratka rivers, Brno has about 403,000 inhabitants, making ...

. He joined Freedom and Direct Democracy in 2023 and became the party's lead candidate in the

2024 European Parliament election The 2024 European Parliament election was held in the European Union (EU) between 6 and 9 June 2024. It was the tenth Elections to the European Parliament, parliamentary election since the 1979 European Parliament election, first direct electio ...

, heading a joint list with Trikolóra. The alliance won 5.73% and one seat, which was taken by Ivan David.

Political views

Mach is considered a libertarian, and argues for a lean state with minimal taxation. He is against the adoption of the

Euro The euro (currency symbol, symbol: euro sign, €; ISO 4217, currency code: EUR) is the official currency of 20 of the Member state of the European Union, member states of the European Union. This group of states is officially known as the ...

in the Czech Republic.

Personal life

Mach is a member of . He has been married to ''

Reflex In biology, a reflex, or reflex action, is an involuntary, unplanned sequence or action and nearly instantaneous response to a stimulus. Reflexes are found with varying levels of complexity in organisms with a nervous system. A reflex occurs ...

'' journalist Andrea Holopová since 2014.

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mach, Petr 21st-century Czech economists Czech libertarians Politicians from Prague 1975 births Living people MEPs for the Czech Republic 2014–2019 Tricolour Citizens' Movement politicians Svobodní MEPs Civic Democratic Party (Czech Republic) politicians Prague University of Economics and Business alumni Leaders of Svobodní Young Conservatives (Czech Republic) politicians Freedom and Direct Democracy politicians