Philippe Busquin

Philippe Busquin (French pronunciation: [filip byskɛ̃]; born 6 January 1941) is a Belgian politician.

Busquin was born in Feluy. He was a Member of the European Parliament from 2004 to 2009 for the French Community of Belgium with the Parti Socialiste, part of the Socialist Group and sat on the European Parliament's Committee on Industry, Research and Energy. Busquin was the chairman of the Science and Technology Options Assessment Panel. He also was a substitute for the Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety and a member of the Delegation to the EU-Russia Parliamentary Cooperation Committee. His tendency to stutter has been the subject of satirical videos on YouTube, some garnering hundreds of thousands of hits.¹

From 1999 to 2004, he was Member of the European Commission with responsibility for research.

Education

• 1962: Degree in physics from the Free University of Brussels
• 1976: Postgraduate certificate in environmental studies
• 1980: First degree in philosophy at the Free University of Brussels

Career

• 1962–1977: Lecturer at the Nivelles teacher training college
• Assistant lecturer at the Free University of Brussels
• 1992–1999: Chairman of the PS
• since 1992: Vice-President of the Socialist International
• 1994–1996: Vice-President of the PES
• 1995–1999: Mayor of Seneffe