Wilfried Martens
H.E President Wilfried Martens is the former Prime Minister of Belgium and the co-founder of the European People’s Party (EPP) in 1976 and has been EPP President since 1992. As Prime Minister of Belgium, he held the Presidency of the European Union and chaired the European Council in 1982 and 1987.
He was the President of the European Union of Christian Democrats (EUCD), a member of the European Parliament and President of the EPP Group in the European Parliament. He presided over the Committee on Police Reform of Bosnia in 2004, the Christian Democrat International (CDI) for the year 2000-2001, and the Center for European Studies since 2007.
H.E is also the Founder and President of the Youth Committee for the World Exposition and a member of the board of the Flemish People’s Movement. He held the position of the Advisor to the Office of Prime Minister Pierre Harmel and Prime Minister Paul Vanden Boeynants. He was the Chargé de mission to the Office of Minister Leo Tindemans (Community Affairs) for five years since 1968. He was also the Minister of State since 1992.
Among numerous national and international distinctions, he was honoured in 1998 with the Charles V Prize for his contribution to the European Union in Spain. He also received the Robert Schuman Medal as meritorious European in 1987.
His Excellency’s publications include “Parole Donnée” (1985), “Memoires pour mon pays” (2006), “L’une et l’autre Europe” (1994) and “Europe: I struggle, I overcome” (2009).
President Martens holds a doctorate degree in Law, a licentiate in Notary Science and a Baccalaureate in Thomistic Philosoply as well as a degree in International Political Science from Harvard University, and an Honoraray Doctorate from the Department of International and European Studies of the Panteion University of Social and Political Sciences in Greece.