Hannu Takkula is a Finnish politician and Member of the European Parliament with the Centre Party of Finland.
Education
Before attending university, Hannu studied music at the Tampere Conservatory and majored in singing. In 1993 he graduated with a Master of Education from the University of Lapland, going on to teach at Anetjärvi comprehensive school in 1992-1995.
Career
His work focuses mainly on the areas of Education, Culture, Sports, Foreign Relations and Research & Innovation. Hannu was then elected to the Finnish Parliament and acted as a member on the Education and Culture Committee, Environment Committee and Foreign Affairs Committee until 2004. Over the past five years, Mr Takkula has hosted the annual weeklong event Supporting Multilingualism through Language Assessment at the European Parliament together with Vice-President Miguel Angel Martínez.
Takkula lost his seat in the 2014 European Parliament election.
He returned later in 2015, when Olli Rehn resigned his seat after being elected to the Parliament of Finland.
Membership
He is a member of the ALDE group (Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe) and the Centre Party of Finland. Presently, Mr Takkula is the coordinator for his group, ALDE, in the European Parliament Committee on Culture and Education, a member of the European Parliament Delegations to Israel and to Australia & New Zealand, a member of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Union for the Mediterranean as well as a substitute member in the Committee for Industry, Research and Energy (ITRE).