Education
He studied economics at the Corvinus University of Budapest (then the Karl Marx University), and later became associate professor of economic policy at the same institution.
He studied economics at the Corvinus University of Budapest (then the Karl Marx University), and later became associate professor of economic policy at the same institution.
He is Commissioner for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion in the Barroso II administration of the European Commission. He also studied at the George Washington University in Washington, District of Columbia and in 1993 earned a master"s degree in development economics at the University of Manchester. Since 1993 he has been editor of a progressive (leftist) Hungarian quarterly social science journal, Eszmélet (Consciousness).
He was once appointed Acting Commissioner for Consumer Protection in Neven Mimica"s stead, from 19 April 2014 – 25 May 2014 while he was on electoral campaign leave for the 2014 elections to the European Parliament.
He ultimately decided to not take up his seat.
From 2005 until 2010 he was a Member of the Board of Directors of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), representing the Czechoslovakian Republic, Croatia, Hungary and Slovakia. Since 2003 he has been a Member of the Board of the Economic Section of the Hungarian Socialist Party.