Florika Fink-Hooijer was born on 1962 and is a Senior EU official at the European Commission.
21 Facts About Florika Fink-Hooijer
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Florika Fink-Hooijer leads the Directorate-General for the Environment, which under her helm became a trailblazer for advancing the green transformation putting circularity and resource efficiency at the heart of the EU sustainability and competitiveness agenda.
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Florika Fink-Hooijer joined the European Commission in 1990 and has held various high level and senior management posts in the area of external policy as well as foreign and security policy, humanitarian aid, disaster risk reduction and environmental protection.
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Florika Fink-Hooijer is the second of three children born to Dr Bertold Fink, a supreme court judge at the Federal Administrative Court of West Germany, and Margret Fink, a senior business teacher.
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Florika Fink-Hooijer pursued her legal studies at the Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universitat Bonn and at the Universite de Lausanne.
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Florika Fink-Hooijer began her career as a European civil servant in the European Commission in 1990.
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In 1995, Florika Fink-Hooijer joined the Cabinet of Monika Wulf-Mathies, the Commissioner responsible for EU Regional Policy.
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From 1999, Florika Fink-Hooijer served in the Cabinet of Commissioner Frits Bolkestein, who was responsible for the Internal Market and Financial Services.
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Florika Fink-Hooijer played a key role in shaping the European Patent Convention and introduced significant policy advancements in copyright, e-commerce and data protection for the digital age.
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Between 2000 and 2010, Florika Fink-Hooijer held various middle management positions, first in the Directorate-General for External Relations, and later in the Secretariat-General.
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Later, Florika Fink-Hooijer managed bilateral relations with Northeast and Southeast Asia and was pivotal in shaping the Monitoring and Certification Mechanism for Bulgaria and Romania, which later evolved into the European Rule of Law Mechanism applicable to all EU Member States.
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In 2010, Florika Fink-Hooijer became Head of Cabinet for Vice-President Kristalina Georgieva during her tenure as the first Commissioner for International Cooperation, Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Response.
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Florika Fink-Hooijer played a significant role in strengthening the EU Civil Protection Mechanisms, enhancing their coordination with humanitarian aid in crisis situations.
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Florika Fink-Hooijer established a multifaceted early warning system, created the EU's first Disaster Knowledge Centre, and helped set up the European Voluntary Humanitarian Aid Corps to build local capacity and resilience in disaster-affected communities.
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In 2016, Florika Fink-Hooijer was appointed Director-General of DG Interpretation, the largest interpreting service in the world and the only Directorate-General operating on an entrepreneurial model, functioning as a fee-based service provider for various EU institutions and agencies, and comprising both statutory and freelance staff.
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In 2020, Florika Fink-Hooijer became Director-General of the Directorate-General for Environment.
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Florika Fink-Hooijer's leadership has laid the foundations for a green industrial policy within the Single Market, including the creation of a market for secondary raw materials to reduce dependence on critical raw materials.
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Florika Fink-Hooijer guided the EU's negotiations for the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, adopted by the 15th Conference of Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity on 19 December 2022, and a key deliverable under the European Green Deal, further solidifying her role as a global advocate for nature-based solutions and smarter resource management.
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Additionally, Florika Fink-Hooijer has become a prominent global advocate for preserving green and blue water cycles and enhancing water efficiency, driving the development of an EU Water Resilience Agenda.
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Florika Fink-Hooijer speaks German, English, Dutch and French fluently.
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Florika Fink-Hooijer is married to fellow European Commission official Johannes Jeroen Hooijer and has three adult children: Valentin, Benjamin and Charlotte Hooijer.