Pavel Telička


Pavel Telička is a Czech lobbyist, politician and Member of the European Parliament from the Czech Republic. He previously served as European Commissioner for Health and Consumer Protection from May 2004 to November 2004. He was a member of the ANO 2011, part of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe until 2017 when he quit amid disagreements with leader Andrej Babiš.
He served as a Vice President of the European Parliament from January 2017 until 2019.

Early life

Born in Washington, D.C. as the son of a communist diplomat. He was member of Communist Party of Czechoslovakia and after his graduation from the Faculty of Law, Charles University in Prague, in 1986 and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Czechoslovakia. In the following years, he held various positions in the Czechoslovak – later Czech – ministry, including the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, and in the Czech Mission to the European Union in Brussels. From 1998 onwards, he served as Chief Negotiator for the accession of the Czech Republic to the European Union.

European Union

In February 2004 Czech government nominated Miloš Kužvart, the former Czech Environment Minister, as a candidate for the EU commissioner. Kužvart, however, was allegedly not able to communicate in any foreign language, although he does in fact speak English, and allegedly lacked insight into EU affairs. He stepped down in a dramatic way after his first candidate visit in Brussels. Under time pressure the government nominated Telička.
When the Czech Republic entered the EU on 1 May 2004 Telička became EU commissioner in the Prodi Commission. He shared the portfolio of Health and Consumer Protection with David Byrne. He held this post only until November 2004; he did not continue in the following Barroso Commission due to a Czech government crisis in summer 2004. He was succeeded as the Czech commissioner by Vladimír Špidla, the former Czech Prime Minister who resigned during a crisis.
Soon after, in December 2004, he co-founded BXL Consulting with offices in Prague and Brussels. BXL Consulting was providing consultancy in EU affairs but as of 2014 it is no longer doing so. In 2013 he supported ANO 2011 led by Andrej Babiš in the Czech parliament elections; he was its candidate for the 2014 European Parliament election. Since his election in July 2014, he was a vice-chair in the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe until the 2019 European Parliament election.
He was also elected president of the Czech Rugby Union in November 2009.