Ulla Tørnæs

Ulla Tørnæs
Minister for Science, Technology, Information and Higher Education of Denmark
Assumed office
February 29, 2016
Personal details
Born Ulla Tørnæs
(1962-09-04) 4 September 1962
Esbjerg, Denmark
Political party  Danish:
Venstre
 EU:
Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe
Alma mater

Ulla Pedersen Tørnæs (born 4 September 1962) is a Danish politician and the former Minister for Development Cooperation of Denmark. She is a member of the Liberal Party and, from 1994 to 2014, was a member of the Danish parliament (Folketing). She currently serves as the Minister for Science, Technology, Information and Higher Education in the Lars Løkke Rasmussen II Cabinet of Denmark.

Political career

Role in Danish politics

She served as Minister for Education in the Cabinet of Anders Fogh Rasmussen I (2001–2005) and as Minister for Development Cooperation in the Cabinet of Anders Fogh Rasmussen II from 18 February 2005.

Tørnæs was in the news on 25 February 2005 when it became known that her husband, Jørgen Tørnæs, had illegally employed a Latvian supervisor on one of his pig farms without the required residence and work permits. She was not forced to resign as minister because there was no proof she knew the supervisor was illegally employed.

Member of the European Parliament, 2014–2016

Tørnæs has been a Member of the European Parliament since the 2014 European elections. A member of the ALDE (Group of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe) political faction, she served as Vice-Chairwoman of the Committee on Employment and Social Affairs. In 2015, she was the lead negotiator for the ALDE group on the eCall system.[1] She left the European Parliament on February 29, 2016, becoming Minister for Science, Technology, Information and Higher Education in the Lars Løkke Rasmussen II Cabinet. Her successor is Morten Lokkegaard.

In addition, Tørnæs is a member of the parliament’s delegation for relations with the countries of Southeast Asia and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

Other activities

Personal life

Tørnæs is the daughter of former minister Laurits Tørnæs and Katty Tørnæs.

References

External links

Political offices
Preceded by
Margrethe Vestager
Education Minister of Denmark
2001–2005
Succeeded by
Bertel Haarder
Preceded by
Bertel Haarder
Minister for Development Cooperation of Denmark
2005–2010
Succeeded by
Søren Pind
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