 |
|
Secretary General of the Council of Europe
Mr Thorbjørn
Jagland is Secretary General of the Council of Europe since 1
October 2009. He was the
President of the Storting (Norwegian Parliament) from 2005 to 2009. He was recently
elected Chairman of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, which awards the Nobel Peace
Prize every year. He has held two of
the most influential governmental positions in Norway: Prime Minister (1996-97)
and Minister of Foreign Affairs (2000-2001). After serving as
Foreign Minister, he was Chairman of the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs
and the enlarged Foreign Affairs Committee in the Storting for four years
(2001-2005). He also served as Chairman of the EEA Consultative Committee
during this period (2000-2005). In addition, he has held a number of other
parliamentary positions, such as head of the Storting’s Delegation for
Relations with the European Parliament for six years. He was a member of
the Storting for 15 years. Mr Jagland was
Leader of the Norwegian Labour Party for ten years (1992-2002), and Party
Secretary of the Labour Party for five years (1987-1992). He is currently
the Chairman of the Board of Directors at the Oslo centre for Peace and Human
Rights, and Member of the International Board of Governors at the Peres Center
for Peace. He served as
Vice-President of the Socialist International 1999-2008, and Chair of the
Social International Middle East Committee from 2000 to 2006. He was a
member of the Sharm El-Sheikh Fact-finding Commission (The Mitchell Commission)
from 2000 to 2001. Over the last 20
years, Mr Jagland has published widely on a range of issues, in particular ob
European and international affairs. He has published four books in Norway: My European Dream
(1990), Letters
(1995), Our
Vulnerable World (2001) and Ten Theses on the EU and Norway (2003). He holds a degree
in Economics from the University of Oslo (1975). He was born on 5
November 1950 in Drammen, Norway. He is married to Hanne Grotjord. They
have two children.
|
           
|
