EIN SUMMER UNIVERSITY BUCHAREST - European Ideas Network

Malcolm HARBOUR
Steven HILL
European Ideas Network
Va d e m e c u m o f t h e s p e a k e r s
Malcolm Harbour was educated at Bedford School (1960–64), Trinity College, Cambridge (1964–
67) where he gained a BA in Mechanical Services, and at the University of Aston (1967–70) where
he gained a Diploma in Management Studies. He began his career in the motor industry, working
as an apprentice at the Longbridge plant in Birmingham (1967–69). From then until 1980 he held
various posts in design, development and product planning in the Rover Triumph Division.
In 1980, Harbour became a director of Austin Rover with responsibilities for planning, sales and
marketing. He co-founded Harbour Wade Brown, a motor industry consultancy, in 1989 and the
International Car Distribution Programme Ltd in 1993, of which he remains a director. He was
also briefly project director of the Three Day Car Programme (1998–99).
Harbour became an active member of the Conservative Party in 1972. He first stood for the European
Parliament in 1989 in the constituency of Birmingham East but failed to win election. He missed out again in 1994, before finally, in 1999,
being placed high on the Conservative list for the new multi-memberWest Midlands region constituency, ensuring his election in the 1999
European Parliament election. Initially a member of the European People’s Party–European Democrats Group (EPP–ED) he gained an
influential position on the Committee on Internal Market and Consumer Protection, serving as the EPP–ED spokesman and co-ordinator.
Harbour was also delegated several other responsibilities in the European Parliament. He was Vice-Chairman of the Parliamentary Science Policy
Panel (STOA), and a member of the Industry, Research and Energy Committee and the Inter-Parliamentary Delegation to Japan. He is a co-chairman
in Parliamentary Forums for the Automobile and Society, the Ceramics Industries, and the European Internet Foundation. He is also Chairman of the
Conservative Technology Forum. From 2004 to 2006, he played a determining role in steering the Services Directive through the Parliament. He has
also been active on the single market strategy, communications framework legislation, type-approval of motor vehicles, and the digital economy.
On 13 January 2005, Harbour was appointed by the European Commission to ‘Cars 21’, a High Level Group convened to
discuss the competitiveness in the European automobile industry.
After the 2009 European Parliament election, Harbour transferred to the new European Conservatives and Reformists Group
(ECR). He was nominated by the ECR and then subsequently elected as the chairman of the Committee on Internal Market and
Consumer Protection, making him one of the most influential and powerful ECR MEPs.
Steven Hill is a political writer and director of the Political Reform Program at the New America
Foundation, which seeks to develop the best opportunities for reform, educate opinion leaders and
the public about electoral alternatives, and encourage the formation of a broad-based coalition.
His next book, Europe’s Promise: Why the European Way Is the Best Hope for an Insecure Age
(www.EuropesPromise.org), was published in January 2010. His previous books include 10 Steps
to Repair American Democracy (2006), Fixing Elections: The Failure of America’s Winner Take All
Politics (2003) and Whose Vote Counts (with Rob Richie, 2001). Mr. Hill’s articles and commentaries
have appeared in the New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Wall Street Journal,
International Herald Tribune, Guardian, Financial Times, New York Daily News, The Nation, Salon.
com, American Prospect, Social Europe, Le Monde Diplomatique, Hürriyet Daily News (Turkey),
Taiwan News, Roll Call, Sierra, San Francisco Chronicle, Sacramento Bee, Chicago Tribune, Houston Chronicle, and other
leading publications. Mr Hill has appeared on national and local radio and television programs, and has lectured widely in the
United States and Europe. He has been a leading force for political reform in the United States for many years.
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