HASSI Satu
Member of the European Parliament
Despite being a relatively new member of the European Parliament, Satu Hassi has substantial experience in European-level decision making, notably due to her position as Finnish environment minister between 1999 and 2002. During the Finnish EU presidency, in the second half of 1999, Ms Hassi acted as president of the Environment Council.
Hassi was a member of the Finnish Parliament for 13 years, from 1991, until her election to the European Parliament in June 2004. At the time of her election, she was vice-chair of the Committee on Environment of the Finnish Parliament. In July 2004, Hassi was elected vice-chair of the European Parliament’s Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety.
Hassi was first elected to a public office in 1984, to the City Council of her hometown Tampere. Between 1997 and 2001, she acted as chair of the Green Party in Finland. She has also, on several occasions, been elected chair of the Green Group at the Finnish Parliament.
Hassi's educational background is in electrical power engineering. She has observed that an educational background in science and technology provides a good foundation for environmental decision-making. According to her, it helps in understanding both the problems and the potential solutions.
