The Politico magazine has picked the chair of the Estonian Reform Party, Kaja Kallas, as one of the 40 members of the European Parliament “who mattered in 2014-2019”, the current term of the legislative body of the European Union.
“As MEPs’ terms come to an end this month ahead of the European Parliament election in May, we’re looking back at the 40 lawmakers who have had the greatest impact on the most high-profile debates of the past five years: on the rule of law across the bloc; on transparency; on regulating markets; and tackling climate change, to name a few,” Politico said.
“Kallas left the European Parliament in 2018 to lead her liberal Reform party to victory in Estonia’s national election last month,” the magazine noted. “She is now attempting to find coalition partners to enable her to follow in her father’s footsteps (he was prime minister in 2002 before becoming a European commissioner) and become Estonia’s first female prime minister.”
“She has just under two weeks to put forward her plan for forming a Cabinet. A competition lawyer, Kallas shone brightly in her time as an MEP, developing a high profile on the tech brawls that came to dominate the Parliament’s agenda,” according to Politico.
MEPs who wielded tangible political influence
The magazine says its list of 40 MEPs “who mattered” isn’t a round-up of pro-European legislators. “In fact, many MEPs chosen here have injected a heavy dose of Euroskepticism into the political discussion. Our goal is to pick out those who have wielded tangible political influence, set the agenda and stood out from their peers, driving trends both within the legislative arena and in the wider EU political debate.”
The next election to the European Parliament is to be held between 23 and 26 May 2019.
The current European Parliament has 751 members representing over 512 million people from 28 member states.
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Cover: Kaja Kallas at the European Parliament in Strasbourg in 2015. Photo by the European Parliament.
