Danuta Hubner in the European Parliament

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About me

Professor Danuta Hübner (born April 8th, 1948), prominent Polish economist, co-creator of Polish economic policy since the early 1990s, instrumental in leading Poland toward membership in the European Union and the OECD. She became the first Minister for European Affairs in the Polish government, as well as the first Polish EU Commissioner. As Commissioner, and before that as UN Undersecretary General, she has served in some of the highest posts in global institutions. In her work as Commissioner, she was responsible for Regional Policy.

Since 2009 she is a Member of the European Parliament. She is the Chair of the Regional Development Committee, and also works in the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs and the Special Committee on the Financial, Economic and Social Crisis. She is a member of the European Parliament Delegation for Relations with the United States, and the Delegation for Relations with Switzerland, Iceland, Norway and to the EEA Joint Parliamentary Committee, and she works closely with the Baltic-Europe Intergroup, the Climate Change, Biodiversity and Sustainable Development Intergroup, the Federalist Intergroup and the URBAN Intergroup.

Since the early 1990s, as an academic and politician she has been engaged in building the new Polish economy, seeking its most favourable position within European and world economies. She has served in various government capacities, as Advisor, Vice-minister and Minister. She pioneered a new approach to industrial policy, one that included crafting the first small- and medium-business policy in Poland.

In the early 1990s, Danuta Hübner played an advisory role in the government's efforts to direct Poland's growth. In 1994 she became an advisor to the Deputy Prime Minister, and in 1994-1996 she served as the Deputy Minister for Industry and Trade. As chief negotiator, she facilitated Poland's entry into the OECD in 1996. In 1997-1998, she served as the Head of the Chancellery of the President of Poland.

She developed the civil service structures required for Poland's negotiations over, and preparations for, EU membership. She directed the extensive efforts preparing Poland for entry into the EU. As the government's plenipotentiary, she created the Committee for European Integration, served at its helm, and subsequently as the first Polish Minister for European Affairs. After Poland's entry into the EU on May 1, 2004, she became the first Polish member of the European Commission. Her experience in international institutions also includes work for the UN, where, as Undersecretary General, she headed the UN Economic Commission for Europe in Geneva.

An economics scholar with a significant body of work in the area of economic development, a full Professor at the Warsaw School of Economics; awarded honorary doctorates in economics from the Economic University in Poznan and the National and World Economy University in Sophia, Bulgaria; in law from Sussex University, UK; in political science from Universit degli Studi Camerino and from the University of Valenciennes.

She received her Masters degree in 1971 from the Foreign Trade Department at the Warsaw School of Economics. She was awarded her PhD in 1974 by the same institution. In 1980 she received her postdoctoral degree (Habilitation), and on February 18th, 1992, she was awarded the title of Professor of Economics by the President of Poland. At present she continues to teach at the Warsaw School of Economics in the Development Economics and Political Economy Department. She is the author and co-author of many scholarly articles and books.