Quick Facts
Biography
Cecilia Karin Maria Wikström, née Sundström, originally Nodbjörk (born 17 October 1965 in Svanstein, Övertorneå Municipality, Norrbotten County) is a Swedish politician and Member of the European Parliament from Sweden. She has been a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) since 2009. She is a member of the Liberal People's Party, part of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe.
She is also a priest in the Church of Sweden and the author of several books. She was married to former Swedish Minister for Education Jan-Erik Wikström, father of Jeppe Wikström, from 1995 to 2010, and before that to the Swedish priest Björn Bolin.
Cecilia Wikström got her Bachelor of Theology at the Department of Theology at Uppsala University in 1993. She has had various positions in the Church of Sweden, such as parish minister, university chaplain, prison chaplain, and canon of the Uppsala Cathedral.
Political career
Member of the Swedish Parliament, 2002–2009
Between 2002 and 2009, Wikström was a member of the Swedish Parliament for the Liberal People's Party. She was Deputy Chairman of the Committee on Cultural Affairs and substitute member of the Committee on Foreign Affairs. Wikström has been very engaged in questions relating to freedom of expression, in Sweden as well as in other countries.
In 2009 Wikström ran for the elections to the European Parliament on June 7. She was the third name on the Swedish Liberal People's Party list and was elected to represent the party in the European Parliament. Hence, she left her post in the Swedish Parliament in July 2009.
Member of the European Parliament, 2009–present
Wikström is a Member of the European Parliament since 2009. She is a member of the European Parliament group Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE).
In the European Parliament, Cecilia Wikström was from 2009 to 2014 a full member of the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (LIBE) and the Committee on Legal Affairs (JURI), where she also is the coordinator of the ALDE group. In 2012, she was appointed into the Advisory Committee of the European Parliament, a consultative ethics committee consisting of five senior MEPs who act as advisors to other colleagues on ethical issues.
Wikström is also vice-chair of the Parliament's intergroup for disabled people.
In spring 2013, Wikström was appointed to represent the Alde-group in the delegation that will negotiate a new agreement between the European Parliament and other institutions on how the European Parliament should have access to classified documents related to the common policy of security and foreign affairs.
She is substitute member of the Delegation to the EU-Moldova Parliamentary Cooperation Committee, the Delegation to the ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly and the Delegation to the Euronest Parliamentary Assembly.
In the present legislature (2014-2019) Wikström is a full member of the Committee of Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (LIBE) and was formerly a substitute member of the Committee of Legal Affairs (JURI). On 7 July 2014, she was elected a Chairwoman of the Committee for Petitions. Wikström is since January 2017 the Chair of the Conference of Committee Chairs. She is also a member of the European Parliament Intergroup on the Western Sahara and the European Parliament Intergroup on LGBT Rights.
Other activities
- Kangaroo Group, Member
Personal life
Wikström has written and published a published several books. In 2004 she published När livet går sönder, a book about crisis management. Her second book I tillitens tecken was published in 2006. She has also held various positions in national and regional boards, such as the Swedish UNESCO Board, the Police County Board and Liberal Women group in Uppsala County. Since 2001 she is the owner and executive Director of Wikström Consulting LTD.