Boguslaw Sonik
Encyclopedia
Bogusław Sonik
is a Polish
politician
and
Member of the European Parliament
for the MP
& SW
with the Platforma Obywatelska, part of the European People's Party
and sits on
the European Parliament
's Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety
.
Sonik is a substitute for the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs
,
a member of the Delegation for relations with the Maghreb
countries and the Arab Maghreb Union (including Libya
) and a substitute for the Delegation for relations with the Mashreq countries.
. in 1983 he started working in ZNAK
publishing house and was one of the founders of a socio-cultural magazine called Arka published in the underground press.
. He was also an honorary member of the Association of Polish Physicians in France and he initiated and supported their operations. In 1985 he began his work as journalist at the Polish Section of Radio France International and BBC
, he also cooperated with the Polish Section of Deutschlandfunk
and he had his own program on Radio Free Europe
. He published in Tygodnik Powszechny
. In 1990 he became the director of The Polish Institute in France and was nominated Minister Plenipotentiary of the Polish Embassy in Paris
and he occupied both these positions until 1996. Together with the Municipality of Paris
and other French cities he organized presentations of Polish culture and art. In 1993 he was given the medal of Chevalier dans l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the French Minister of Culture
, Jack Lang
.
as one of the key projects of Kraków 2000. Since 2001 Sonik has been on the board of The Association of European Cities and Months of Culture with its seat in Luxembourg. Following the flood of 1997 he embarked on a scheme to save the Kościuszko Mound in Kraków and managed to collect approx. 15 million zloty for its restoration. The Kościuszko Mound reopened to public in 2002. In cooperation with his friends from the Students' Solidarity Committee he established the Maj77 Association which organises events propagating democracy, freedom of speech and human rights. He is active in the Institute of Heritage aiming to establish the European Culture Festival, and which also supports and promotes traditional professions, artistic craft and protects landscapes. In January 2003 he became the head of promotion of the city of Kraków and he helped establish a long-term promotion strategy for the city.
He supervised the implementation of projects financed from the European structural funds and the Voivodeship Environmental Protection Fund. He supports numerous initiatives for regional development including contracts with cheap airlines and agro-tourism. He is a delegate at the Association for Culture of European Cities and Regions (Les Rencontres). His interest in Europe has resulted in the formation of the first Polish European Association of Platforma Obywatelska. He is the author of numerous analyses on the European integration published in the "Rzeczpospolita" daily and in the local press.
His time at the Parliament is divided between three committees:
and six interparliamentary delegations:
In the course of his work he has become involved in many issues which are important for the functioning of the entire European Union.
He is an expert on numerous European initiatives in culture and education including the European Committee initiative establishing the Culture programme 2007-2013, Citizens for Europe and European Capitals of Culture. He co-wrote numerous resolutions concerning the protection of human rights in countries such as Syria, Lebanon, Cuba and Belarus, the Republic of Moldova and particularly in Trans-Dniestr.
He has been done much to prepare a European Parliament resolution to commemorate the victims of holocaust, anti-Semitism and racism. He fought that the final version of the document approved on 27 January 2005 should refer to "Nazi Germany camps" in relation to concentration camps set up in Poland during World War 2.
He participated in legislative work on the REACH directive concerning the registration, assessment and permits for chemical substances. He defended the interests of Polish entrepreneurs in the course of legislative works on a directive concerning the definition, description, presentation and labelling of spirits.
According to a report prepared by the Wrocław University in June 2007 he is one of 10 most active members of the Polish delegation in the European Parliament.
See also: European Parliament election, 2004 (Poland)
is a Polish
Politics of Poland
The politics of Poland take place in the framework of a parliamentary representative democratic republic, whereby the Prime Minister is the head of government of a multi-party system and the President is the head of state....
politician
Politician
A politician, political leader, or political figure is an individual who is involved in influencing public policy and decision making...
and
Member of the European Parliament
Member of the European Parliament
A Member of the European Parliament is a person who has been elected to the European Parliament. The name of MEPs differ in different languages, with terms such as europarliamentarian or eurodeputy being common in Romance language-speaking areas.When the European Parliament was first established,...
for the MP
Lesser Poland Voivodeship
Małopolska Voivodeship , or Lesser Poland Voivodeship, is a voivodeship, in southern Poland...
& SW
Swietokrzyskie Voivodeship
Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship, or Świętokrzyskie Province , is one of the 16 voivodeships into which Poland is presently divided. It is situated in central Poland, in the historical province of Lesser Poland, and takes its name from the Świętokrzyskie mountain range...
with the Platforma Obywatelska, part of the European People's Party
European People's Party
The European People's Party is a pro-European centre-right European political party. The EPP was founded in 1976 by Christian democratic parties, but later it increased its membership to include conservative parties and parties of other centre-right perspectives.The EPP is the most influential of...
and sits on
the European Parliament
European Parliament
The European Parliament is the directly elected parliamentary institution of the European Union . Together with the Council of the European Union and the Commission, it exercises the legislative function of the EU and it has been described as one of the most powerful legislatures in the world...
's Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety
Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety
The Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety is a committee of the European Parliament. It has 68 members and a secretariat of 10 administrators. Its chairman is...
.
Sonik is a substitute for the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs
Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs
The Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs is a standing committee of the European Parliament.-External links:*...
,
a member of the Delegation for relations with the Maghreb
Maghreb
The Maghreb is the region of Northwest Africa, west of Egypt. It includes five countries: Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, and Mauritania and the disputed territory of Western Sahara...
countries and the Arab Maghreb Union (including Libya
Libya
Libya is an African country in the Maghreb region of North Africa bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Sudan to the southeast, Chad and Niger to the south, and Algeria and Tunisia to the west....
) and a substitute for the Delegation for relations with the Mashreq countries.
Solidarity
As a student in the 1970s he became active in anti-communist opposition. He was a member of Beczka, a university chaplaincy run by the Dominicans. He also cooperated with Komitet Obrony Robotników (Committee for the Protection of Workers). Following the death of his friend Staszek Pyjas he and his other friends from the opposition founded Studencki Komitet Solidarności. (Student Committee of Solidarity) 1980 saw his active participation in the creation and organization of the Independent Trade Union Solidarity. He was the vice-president of the Małopolska region Solidarity management until 1982. He was the chairman of the Małopolska region delegation to the 1rst National Assembly of the Independent Solidarity Trade Union. He was interned on the first day of martial lawMartial law in Poland
Martial law in Poland refers to the period of time from December 13, 1981 to July 22, 1983, when the authoritarian government of the People's Republic of Poland drastically restricted normal life by introducing martial law in an attempt to crush political opposition to it. Thousands of opposition...
. in 1983 he started working in ZNAK
Znak (publisher)
Znak is one of the largest Polish book publishing companies. Founded in 1959 and related to the Catholic Church in Poland, it has grown since 1989. It publishes about 150 titles a year, and employs about 70 people....
publishing house and was one of the founders of a socio-cultural magazine called Arka published in the underground press.
Emigration
1983 marked the beginning of Sonik's 14-year-long stay in France. At first he organized aid for the underground structures of "Solidarność" and he studied at the Institut d'Études Politiques de ParisInstitut d'Études Politiques de Paris
The Institut d'études politiques de Paris , simply referred to as Sciences Po , is a public research and higher education institution in Paris, France, specialised in the social sciences. It has the status of grand établissement, which allows its admissions process to be highly selective...
. He was also an honorary member of the Association of Polish Physicians in France and he initiated and supported their operations. In 1985 he began his work as journalist at the Polish Section of Radio France International and BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
, he also cooperated with the Polish Section of Deutschlandfunk
Deutschlandfunk
Deutschlandfunk is a German public broadcasting radio station, broadcasting national news and current affairs.-History:Broadcasting in the Federal Republic of Germany is reserved under the Basic Law to the states. This means that all public broadcasting is regionalised...
and he had his own program on Radio Free Europe
Radio Free Europe
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty is a broadcaster funded by the U.S. Congress that provides news, information, and analysis to countries in Eastern Europe, Central Asia, and the Middle East "where the free flow of information is either banned by government authorities or not fully developed"...
. He published in Tygodnik Powszechny
Tygodnik Powszechny
Tygodnik Powszechny is a Polish Roman Catholic weekly magazine, focusing on social and cultural issues. Established in 1945 under the auspices of Cardinal Adam Stefan Sapieha, Jerzy Turowicz was its editor-in-chief until his death in 1999. He was succeeded by priest Adam Boniecki.-History:The...
. In 1990 he became the director of The Polish Institute in France and was nominated Minister Plenipotentiary of the Polish Embassy in Paris
Diplomatic missions of Poland
This is a list of diplomatic missions of Poland, excluding honorary consulates. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has reduced the number of Polish diplomatic missions in September 2008...
and he occupied both these positions until 1996. Together with the Municipality of Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
and other French cities he organized presentations of Polish culture and art. In 1993 he was given the medal of Chevalier dans l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the French Minister of Culture
Minister of Culture (France)
The Minister of Culture is, in the Government of France, the cabinet member in charge of national museums and monuments; promoting and protecting the arts in France and abroad; and managing the national archives and regional "maisons de culture"...
, Jack Lang
Jack Lang (French politician)
Jack Mathieu Émile Lang is a French politician. A member of the Socialist Party, he served as France's Minister of Culture from 1981 to 1986 and 1988 to 1992, and as Minister of Education from 1992 to 1993 and 2000 to 2002. He was also the Mayor of Blois from 1989 to 2000...
.
Return to Poland
He returned to Poland in 1996 to become the Director of Kraków 2000 - European City of Culture Festival. This was the largest cultural event in Poland and lasted 4 years. At that time he managed to obtain an extra 54 million zloty for the culture, he set up the Festival Bureau and the Cultural Information Centre. He was the organiser of the Kraków edition of Ludwig van Beethoven Easter Festival which joined the prestigious European Festivals AssociationEuropean Festivals Association
The European Festivals Association or EFA is an umbrella group for various festivals in Europe and other countries. It supports artistic cooperation among festivals and offers programs for new festival and artistic managers...
as one of the key projects of Kraków 2000. Since 2001 Sonik has been on the board of The Association of European Cities and Months of Culture with its seat in Luxembourg. Following the flood of 1997 he embarked on a scheme to save the Kościuszko Mound in Kraków and managed to collect approx. 15 million zloty for its restoration. The Kościuszko Mound reopened to public in 2002. In cooperation with his friends from the Students' Solidarity Committee he established the Maj77 Association which organises events propagating democracy, freedom of speech and human rights. He is active in the Institute of Heritage aiming to establish the European Culture Festival, and which also supports and promotes traditional professions, artistic craft and protects landscapes. In January 2003 he became the head of promotion of the city of Kraków and he helped establish a long-term promotion strategy for the city.
Local government
In 1998 Bogusław Sonik became involved in local government and he was elected to the Voivodeship council. He became the Chairman of Małopolska Council and he worked for the region for two terms in office. He strove to develop tourism, protect cultural heritage and the environment. He came up with the idea of organising Małopolska Region days of Cultural Heritage and of building new bicycle paths. He supported the modernisation of flood banks, a scheme to save chestnut trees from the horse chestnut miner plague and to protect natural features of historic importance. In October 2002 he again ran in the local election recommended by Platforma Obywatelska and obtained one of the best results. He won the trust of councillors from Platforma Obywatelska and Prawo i Sprawiedliwość and he became the head of the largest group in the local government where he was the chairman of the Environmental Protection and Water Management Committee.He supervised the implementation of projects financed from the European structural funds and the Voivodeship Environmental Protection Fund. He supports numerous initiatives for regional development including contracts with cheap airlines and agro-tourism. He is a delegate at the Association for Culture of European Cities and Regions (Les Rencontres). His interest in Europe has resulted in the formation of the first Polish European Association of Platforma Obywatelska. He is the author of numerous analyses on the European integration published in the "Rzeczpospolita" daily and in the local press.
European Parliament
On 13 June 2004 Bogusław Sonik was elected as member of the European Parliament. As a member of Platforma Obywatelska (Civic Platform) he belongs to the European People's Party-European Democrats which is the most numerous group in the European Parliament.His time at the Parliament is divided between three committees:
- The Committee on Environment, Public Health and Food Safety,
- The Temporary Committee on climate change,
- The Subcommittee on Human Rights
and six interparliamentary delegations:
- Delegation for relations with the Mashreq countries,
- Delegation to the African, Caribbean, Pacific-European Union Joint Parliamentary Assembly,
- Delegation to the Euro- Latin American Parliamentary Assembly,
- Delegation to the EU-Moldova parliamentary cooperation committee,
- Delegation for relations with countries of Central America,
- Delegation for relations with the Maghreb countries and the Arab Maghreb Union (including Libya).
In the course of his work he has become involved in many issues which are important for the functioning of the entire European Union.
He is an expert on numerous European initiatives in culture and education including the European Committee initiative establishing the Culture programme 2007-2013, Citizens for Europe and European Capitals of Culture. He co-wrote numerous resolutions concerning the protection of human rights in countries such as Syria, Lebanon, Cuba and Belarus, the Republic of Moldova and particularly in Trans-Dniestr.
He has been done much to prepare a European Parliament resolution to commemorate the victims of holocaust, anti-Semitism and racism. He fought that the final version of the document approved on 27 January 2005 should refer to "Nazi Germany camps" in relation to concentration camps set up in Poland during World War 2.
He participated in legislative work on the REACH directive concerning the registration, assessment and permits for chemical substances. He defended the interests of Polish entrepreneurs in the course of legislative works on a directive concerning the definition, description, presentation and labelling of spirits.
According to a report prepared by the Wrocław University in June 2007 he is one of 10 most active members of the Polish delegation in the European Parliament.
Decorations
- 1993: KnightKnightA knight was a member of a class of lower nobility in the High Middle Ages.By the Late Middle Ages, the rank had become associated with the ideals of chivalry, a code of conduct for the perfect courtly Christian warrior....
of the French Order of Art and CultureCultureCulture is a term that has many different inter-related meanings. For example, in 1952, Alfred Kroeber and Clyde Kluckhohn compiled a list of 164 definitions of "culture" in Culture: A Critical Review of Concepts and Definitions... - 1999: Order of Merit for Polish CultureCultureCulture is a term that has many different inter-related meanings. For example, in 1952, Alfred Kroeber and Clyde Kluckhohn compiled a list of 164 definitions of "culture" in Culture: A Critical Review of Concepts and Definitions...
See also: European Parliament election, 2004 (Poland)
European Parliament election, 2004 (Poland)
Elections to the European Parliament were held in Poland on 13 June 2004. 20.87% of eligible citizens voted; of these, 97.33% of the votes cast were valid. The elections resulted in a heavy defeat for the governing Alliance of the Democratic Left and Labor Union parties, although the very low...