James Edmund Moncrieff Elles (born 3 September 1949, London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

) is a British

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 politician, and Conservative Party

Conservative Party (UK)

The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...

 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 South East England

South East England (European Parliament constituency)

South East England is a constituency of the European Parliament. It currently elects 10 Members of the European Parliament using the D'Hondt method of party-list proportional representation.- Boundaries :...

.

The son of Diana Newcombe Elles, Baroness Elles

Diana Elles, Baroness Elles

Diana Louie Elles, Baroness Elles was a barrister and United Nations representative from the United Kingdom. She was a delegate to the European Parliament for over a decade.-Early years:...

 and her husband, Neil Patrick Moncrieff Elles, he
graduated from the University of Edinburgh

University of Edinburgh

The University of Edinburgh, founded in 1583, is a public research university located in Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland, and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The university is deeply embedded in the fabric of the city, with many of the buildings in the historic Old Town belonging to the university...

 with a BSc in agriculture. He served as the MEP for Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire

Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire (European Parliament constituency)

Prior to its uniform adoption of proportional representation in 1999, the United Kingdom used first-past-the-post for the European elections in England, Scotland and Wales...

 from 1984 to 1989 and the MEP for Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire East

Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire East (European Parliament constituency)

Prior to its uniform adoption of proportional representation in 1999, the United Kingdom used first-past-the-post for the European elections in England, Scotland and Wales...

 from 1994 to 1999. He has represented the South East in 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...

since 1999. Elles has special responsibility for the Conservative Party for the counties of Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire.

Early career

Elles graduated from Edinburgh University with a BSc (hons) in agriculture. He became a European MP after an eight-year career as a civil servant with the European Commission, initially as a Tokyo Round negotiator and latterly as Assistant to the Deputy Director General of Agriculture.

Member of the European Parliament

Now in his sixth term, Elles is the longest-serving member of the European Parliament’s budgets committee, having been a member for the past 25 years. He was rapporteur (the person appointed to steer a measure through Parliament) for both the 1996 and 2007 budgets.

Transatlantic Policy Network (TPN)

In 1992 he founded the Transatlantic Policy Network (TPN). The purpose of TPN is to help build bridges between the EU and US involving business and policy-makers on both sides of the Atlantic, feeding in ideas, for example, to create the new transatlantic agenda (NTA) and, more, recently putting forward suggestions to strengthen transatlantic partnership through the completion of the transatlantic market.

European Internet Foundation (EIF)

In 2000, the European Internet Foundation (EIF) was launched by Elles and two other parliamentarians as co-founders. The purpose of the European Internet Foundation is to help encourage European political leadership in the development of active public policies that respond to the political, economic and social challenges of the worldwide digital revolution. The EIF aims to ensure that the European Union remains open to developments in the digital economy and benefits fully from it, through enhanced global competitiveness and social progress.

European Ideas Network (EIN)

In August 2002, Elles founded the European Ideas Network (EIN), an open network think-tank on a European scale for the Centre Right. He stepped down as Chairman of the Network in March 2008.

James Elles Blog

Elles started a blog, on 8 May 2009 with a particular focus on long-term trends.

External links

• Profile at European Parliament website