Ivan Stefanec
Member of the European ParliamentPresident of the SME Europe
Ivan Štefanec (born September 30, 1961 in Považská Bystrica) is a Slovak politician and manager, former Member of the Slovak Parliament and currently Member of the European Parliament. Ivan Štefanec started to work as a researcher and later as a Project Manager at the engineering plant Považské strojárne, Považská Bystrica in 1983. Between years 1992 and 1993 operated as Branch Manager of Ernst & Young CS Consulting and since 1994 his professional career was connected with the company Coca-Cola. He started as Chief Financial Officer and Deputy General Manager and he was successfully running the company Coca-Cola Beverages Slovakia as the General Manager for 5 years. Under his leadership Cola-Cola Beverages Slovakia was awarded with the National Quality Prize 2001. Following this and other accomplishments Ivan Štefanec was appointed the EU Integration Manager of Coca-Cola HBC in Vienna in January 2003. This role, among other responsibilities, incorporated the preparation of the company business for EU Enlargement in all accession countries. Ivan Štefanec was the President of the Business Alliance of Slovakia from its foundation in 2001 until 2005. At the 2014 European Parliament election Ivan Štefanec was elected as a Member of the European Parliament for the SDKU-DS and subsequently joined the EPP Group. His priority topics are digital single market, SMEs, employment and red tape reduction. Currently Ivan Štefanec serves as a member of the Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection, the Delegation for relations with the countries of South Asia and a substitute in the Committee on Budgets, the Delegation to the EU-Ukraine Parliamentary Cooperation Committee and the Delegation to the Euronest Parliamentary Assembly. From 2016 until 2017, Štefanec was a member of the temporary Committee of Inquiry into Emission Measurements in the Automotive Sector. On November 8, 2018 on SME Europe’s general assembly held in Helsinki Ivan Štefanec was elected President of SME Europe.