Poul Nyrup Rasmussen

Poul Nyrup Rasmussen MEP
Prime Minister of Denmark
In office 25 January, 1993 – 27 November, 2001
Preceded by	Poul Schlüter
Succeeded by	Anders Fogh Rasmussen
Member of the European Parliament for Denmark
Incumbent
Assumed office 19 July 2004
President of the Party of European Socialists
Incumbent
Assumed office April 2004
Preceded by	Robin Cook
Leader of the Social Democrats
In office 1992–2002
Preceded by	Svend Auken
Succeeded by	Mogens Lykketoft
Personal details
Born	(1943-06-15) 15 June 1943 Esbjerg, Denmark
Political party	Social Democrats Party of European Socialists

Poul Nyrup Rasmussen (IPA: [⁽ˈ⁾pʰʌʊ̯l ny(ː)ɔb̥ ˈʁɑsmusn̩], informally [⁽ˈ⁾pʰʌʊ̯l nyːˀɔb̥]; born June 15, 1943) was the Prime Minister of Denmark from January 25, 1993 to November 27, 2001, and is currently a Member of the European Parliament and President of the Party of European Socialists (PES). He was the leader of the governing Social Democrats from 1992 to 2002 where he was succeeded by Mogens Lykketoft.

Early Political and Personal Life

He was born to a working class family in Esbjerg in 1943. His parents were Oluf Nyrup Rasmussen and Vera Eline Nyrup Rasmussen. He was educated at the University of Copenhagen, earning a degree in Economics in 1971. While studying he was active in the social democratic student union, Frit Forum where he met some of his future political colleagues. He is married to Lone Dybkjær, who is a Danish MP and a former MEP. He had a daughter, Signe, who died on August 20 1993, however he has two stepdaughters, Mette and Lotte and he is grandfather to Mette’s two children, Lukas and Nikoline. He paid his own way through university, by doing several jobs, like counting traffic and being a part-time delivery boy.

In his spare time, he enjoys holidaying with his wife in their second house, he also enjoys swimming, walking, and reflecting with friends. He also likes listening to music.

Prime Minister 1993-2001

Poul Nyrup Rasmussen came to power following the fall of Poul Schlüter government after he misinfomed the Danish Parliament over the his involvement with some Tamil refugees.

The Social Democrats-led government of Rasmussen made use of limited classical Keynesianism in connection with the so-called kick-start of 1993-94 as its economic policy. Under Rasmussen, Denmark experienced the most comprehensive privatisation of publicly-owned assets in the 20th century.

He only narrowly won re-election in 1998, an election where his party gained 36% of votes cast. However, many vote recounts were needed in order to determine the voters' choice. The cabinet he unveiled was almost identical. All the main cabinet members, Niels Helveg Petersen, Mogens Lykketoft and Radical Liberal leader Marianne Jelved held onto their posts. Prime Minister Rasmussen stated their first order of business was to secure a ‘yes’ vote on the European Union Amsterdam Treaty. Eventually, 55% of the Danish public voted in favour of the treaty.

Towards the end of the 1990s, a trade surplus of 30 billion kroner (USD 4.9 billion) turned into a deficit. To combat this, the government increased taxes, limiting private consumption. The 1998 initiative, which was dubbed the Whitsun Packet (Danish: Pinsepakken) from the season it was issued, was not universally popular with the electorate, which may have been a factor in the Social Democrats' defeat in the 2001 parliamentary election.

On May 8 2000 Poul Nyrup Rasmussen visit China. There he met his Chinese counterpart Zhu Rongji and President Jiang Zemin. The 8-day trip marked 50 years since the two counties established diplomatic ties. Whilst in China, he raised questions about human rights and China’s rule of Tibet.

His government presided over the referendum on Danish participation in the Euro on September 28, 2000. Participation in the Euro was rejected by 53.2% of the electorate. He called an early election in 2001 just after the 11 September attacks. His statesmanlike response to these attacks gained him and the Radical Liberals their highest poll ratings in years. This lead would be eroded in the build up to the election.

He was up against Liberal leader Anders Fogh Rasmussen. The campaign focused mainly on immigration and refugees, which played right into the hands of the Danish People’s Party. There was little debate about the European Union, as the two leaders opinions where largely the same. Two in every three Danes now supported tighter immigration ristrictions, compared to only one in two before September 11. Poul Nyrup Rasmussen said that the early election would give the next Prime Minister time to prepare for Denmark’s upcoming presidency of the European Union in 2002.

Other campaign focuses were on welfare and health care. The aim for creating a more robust economy to deal with the economic turn down was also stated by Poul Nyrup Rasmussen. In the last few days of the campaign, various left-wing intellectuals warned the Danish population not to vote for the right-wing parties due to the policies of the Danish People’s Party.

The loss of power in the 2001 election to Anders Fogh Rasmussen's Venstre was the first time since 1920 that his party had lost its position as the largest party in the Folketing (Parliament).

European Parliament, 2004-

Rasmussen currently sits as an MEP after winning a record number of 407,966 votes for an individual (from Denmark) in the European Parliamentary elections in 2004. Rasmussen was re-elected as President of PES for a further 2.5 years at the PES Congress in Porto on 8 December 2006. In this position, one of his tasks is too make sure there is a strong unity within the party. Rasmussen has announced he will not run for another term but rather focus his energy on the mentally disabled.

Miscellaneous

Rasmussen is a member of the Club of Madrid.

In 2007 Rasmussen published the book "I Grådighedens Tid" ("In a Time of Greed") which contains a harsh criticism of the role hedge and venture capital funds play in the global economy.

External links

• Template:EP MEP info/6th term
• Declaration (PDF) of financial interests (in Danish)

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