He began his political career in youth politics as a regular member of the Finnish Centre Youth and soon became the secretary general of the Nordic Centre Youth. In 1987, he was elected as the president of the Finnish Centre Youth. That position can be seen as predicting high political responsibilities in Finnish politics.[4]
He was briefly the chairman of Veikkausliiga from 1996 to 1997. From 1998 to 2002 Rehn ran the office of Erkki Liikanen, Finland's representative on the Prodi Commission. Rehn would later succeed Liikanen in the role of commissioner for Enterprise and Information Society. In 2002, he left European politics for the University of Helsinki, where he led the Centre for European Studies. In 2003, he became an adviser to the prime minister on economic policy, a position he held until his appointment to the European Commission the following year.
Rehn served briefly on the Prodi Commission. He was appointed European commissioner for enterprise and information society on 12 July 2004, taking over the role from the previous Finnish commissioner Erkki Liikanen, who left his post the same day to become governor of the Bank of Finland. The Finnish government nominated Rehn for the incoming Barroso Commission, which took office on 22 November 2004. He was the youngest member of the first Barroso Commission.
Rehn's appointment to the enlargement post was seen as a slight disappointment for Finland, who had hoped for their nominee to be given a portfolio relating to economic issues. Enlargement was a central issue for the EU in the run-up to the landmark accession of ten countries on 1 May 2004, but has since declined in importance, if only slightly. Rehn presided over the accession of Bulgaria and Romania in 2007, as well as continuing negotiations with Croatia and opening them with Turkey, the latter being perhaps the most significant and the most hotly debated future accession.
Rehn favours Turkish membership but has controversially suggested permanent restrictions on the free movement of workers from Turkey, "in case serious disturbances occur in the labour market within the EU as a result of Turkey’s accession", an attitude seen by some as running counter to the whole purpose and spirit of the EU.[5] He has stressed the importance of greater respect for human rights and civil liberties as preconditions for Turkey's entry, while acknowledging the advances it had already made in this respect.
Siim Kallas was twice acting commissioner in his stead, from 19 April 2014 to 25 May 2014 while he was on electoral campaign leave for the 2014 elections to the European Parliament and from 1 July 2014 – 16 July 2014 after he took up his seat.[6][7]
Selection hearing
Questioned by the European Parliament, Rehn offered his thoughts on the prospects for accession of each of the countries highest on the enlargement agenda. He praised Turkey for the human rights advances it had made but said he would advocate stronger monitoring if the decision was taken to open accession talks by the European Council when it considered the question in December.
Asked about free movement of Turkish labour after the country's accession, Rehn expressed the view that there should be "considerable transitional periods as well as a permanent safeguard clause". He was cautious on the question of the inevitability of Turkish membership, stating that he did not "believe in historic determinism", but that if negotiations were begun, "underpinned by the commitment that [Turkey] will be able to join [the EU] once it fulfils all conditions, it will join as soon as it does meet the conditions".
He insisted that Bulgaria and Romania would be judged on their merits and that he would not hesitate to delay accession by a year if the EU's requirements were not met on time. He considered the establishment of a pre-accession strategy for the Western Balkans one of his prime tasks.
In late June 2011, Rehn spoke out on austerity measures being considered by the Greek parliament, saying, "The only way to avoid immediate default is for parliament to endorse the revised economic program...The program includes both the medium-term fiscal strategy and the privatization program. They must be approved if the next tranche of financial assistance [a 12 billion euro aid payment] is to be released...To those who speculate about other options, let me say this clearly: there is no Plan B to avoid default".[8]
In May 2012, coincident with warnings from Mario Draghi of the ECB, Rehn said that even if Eurobonds "were ever approved, it would still not be sufficient to save the euro. The single currency’s members needed 'a genuine stability culture and a much upgraded common capacity to contain common contagion', if they wanted to avoid a disintegration of the eurozone and if they wanted it to survive".[9]
Rehn has continued to maintain that the only way out of the crisis is a continued programme of fiscal austerity. Economist Paul Krugman has been critical of this stance, saying in early 2013 that Olli Rehn, and the economic management of the European Commission, had been proven disastrously wrong in their predictions and management since the beginning of the crisis. He noted, "European leaders seem determined to learn nothing, which makes this more than a tragedy; it’s an outrage."[10] Krugman maintains that Rehn's focus on fiscal discipline is in fact an excuse to dismantle the social safety net and reduce the size of government, as he has criticized countries, such as France which have tried to achieve fiscal discipline through tax increases.[11]
In mid-2013, Rehn claimed that the European Commission was following a pragmatic policy balancing austerity policies with pro-growth policies and that much of the criticism was unfair.[12]
Member of the European Parliament, 2014–2015
Rehn was a candidate in the 2014 European election and was elected MEP. In the European Parliament he was elected to be one of the parliament's 14 vice presidents.[13]
Return to Finnish politics
Minister of Economic Affairs, 2015–2016
In 2015, Rehn was elected in the Finnish parliamentary election with 6,837 votes.[14] His term in the European Parliament ended on 27 April, when Rehn officially accepted the seat in the Finnish Parliament.[15] On 29 May 2015, Rehn was appointed the Minister of Economic Affairs in Sipilä Cabinet.[16] During his time in office, he oversaw the country's emergence from a three-year recession thanks to a combination of tax and spending cuts. He also played a key role in persuading labor unions to agree to pay cuts to restore competitiveness.[17]
Bank of Finland, 2016–present
On 14 October 2016, Rehn was selected to the board of the Bank of Finland.[18] In this capacity, he is in charge of monetary policy implementation and investment of the Bank of Finland's financial assets. He is also responsible for the bank's digitalisation process and for the activities of the Financial Supervisory Authority, where he is chairman of the board.[19] He continued as a minister and MP till the end of 2016.[20]
Following the resignation of Christine Lagarde as managing director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in 2019, Rehn was one of the candidates considered by European governments as potential successor; he withdrew his candidacy shortly after[21] and the post went to Kristalina Georgieva instead.
Presidential election 2024
In June 2023, Rehn announced his candidacy for 2024 presidential election as an independent candidate.[22] In the election, he placed fourth with 15.32% of the total vote count and failed to advance to the second round of voting.[23]
After launching his political career Rehn did not give up football but has played for the teams of both the Finnish parliament and the European Commission. With the Finnish parliament team, he twice helped to win the European championship of parliaments in the early 1990s.[34]
1 = President. 2 = Vice President. 3 = Served from 1 January 2007. 4 = Vassiliou replaced Kyprianou on 3 March 2008. 5 = Tajani replaced Frattini on 18 June 2008. 6 = Ashton replaced Mandelson on 3 October 2008. 7 = Šemeta replaced Grybauskaitė on 1 July 2009. 8 = Samecki replaced Hübner on 4 July 2009. 9 = De Gucht replaced Michel on 17 July 2009. 10 = Šefčovič replaced Figeľ on 1 October 2009.
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