Poul Nielson (born 11 April 1943) is a Danish politician from the

Social Democrats Social democracy is a social, economic, and political philosophy within socialism that supports political and economic democracy and a gradualist, reformist, and democratic approach toward achieving social equality. In modern practice, s ...

who has held the posts as Energy Minister and Minister of Development Cooperation, and served as European Commissioner for Development and Humanitarian Aid from 1999 until 2004.

Early life and education

Born in Copenhagen, Nielson graduated in

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and Power (social and political), power, and the analysis of political activities, political philosophy, political thought, polit ...

from

Aarhus University Aarhus University (, abbreviated AU) is a public research university. Its main campus is located in Aarhus, Denmark. It is the second largest and second oldest university in Denmark. The university is part of the Coimbra Group, the Guild, and Ut ...

in 1972.

Political career

During his long career in Danish politics, Nielson served as Energy Minister in the fourth and fifth cabinets of

Prime Minister A prime minister 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. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

Anker Jørgensen Anker Henrik Jørgensen (13 July 1922 – 20 March 2016) was a Danish politician who served at various times as prime minister and foreign minister of Denmark. Between 1972 and 1982 he led five cabinets as prime minister. Jørgensen was presiden ...

from 26 October 1979 to 10 September 1982, and as

Minister for Development Cooperation The Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Aid () is a Minister without Portfolio (Netherlands), minister without portfolio in the Netherlands. The officeholder, who is a member of the Cabinet of the Netherlands, Cabinet and the Council of M ...

in the Cabinet of Poul Nyrup Rasmussen II, III, and IV from 27 September 1994 to 10 July 1999. By the time he left office, he was the EU's longest-serving development minister. In 1999, he was also the EU's official candidate for leading the

United Nations Development Programme The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is a United Nations agency tasked with helping countries eliminate poverty and achieve sustainable economic growth and human development. The UNDP emphasizes on developing local capacity towar ...

(UNDP); the post instead went to

Mark Malloch Brown George Mark Malloch Brown, Baron Malloch-Brown (born 16 September 1953) is a British diplomat, communications consultant, journalist and former politician serving as president of Open Society Foundations since 2021, having previously served as ...

. On 17 September 1999 Nielson became European Commissioner for Development and Humanitarian Aid when the

Prodi Commission The Prodi Commission was the European Commission in office between 1999 and 2004. The administration was led by former Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi. History The commission took office on 16 September 1999 following the scandal and subs ...

took office. Early in his tenure, the EU signed the

Cotonou Agreement The Cotonou Agreement (French: ''Accord de Cotonou'') is a treaty between the European Union (EU) and the African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States ("ACP countries"). It was signed in June 2000 in Cotonou, Benin's largest city, by 78 ACP c ...

with its 71 partners from the African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States (ACP) which put relations between Europe and its former colonies on a new footing for the following 20 years. In 2002, Nielson and

Margot Wallström Margot Elisabeth Wallström (; born 28 September 1954) is a Swedish politician of the Swedish Social Democratic Party who served as Deputy Prime Minister of Sweden and Minister for Foreign Affairs from 2014 to 2019 and Minister for Nordic Coop ...

led the European Commission's team at the

World Summit on Sustainable Development The World Summit on Sustainable Development 2002, took place in South Africa, from 26 August to 4 September 2002. It was convened to discuss sustainable development organizations, 10 years after the first Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro. (It was t ...

. In response to what later became known as the 'decency gap' left by US President

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician and businessman who was the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Bush family and the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he i ...

's controversial refusal to release funds already approved by Congress, Nielson also led efforts for the EU to pledge additional support for the

United Nations Population Fund The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) is a United Nations System, UN agency aimed at improving reproductive health, reproductive and maternal health worldwide. Its work includes developing national healthcare strategies and protocols, incr ...

(UNFPA) in 2004.

Life after politics

In April 2015, Nielson was asked to conduct a strategic review of the labour market on behalf 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 ...

References

External links

CV
(in Danish) – From

Folketinget The Folketing ( , ), also known as the Parliament of Denmark or the Danish Parliament in English, is the unicameral List of legislatures by country, national legislature (parliament) of the Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark — Denmark proper to ...

. {{DEFAULTSORT:Nielson, Poul 1943 births Living people Danish European commissioners Government ministers of Denmark Members of the Folketing