Petr Ježek  Petr Ježek (born 28 March 1965) is a former Czech politician and diplomat. He was a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) in the period 2014 - 2019. He chaired a Parliamentary Committee and an External Delegation and ranked 20th (out of 751) in the list of the most influential MEPs according to the Vote Watch Europe independent analysis. Studies  Petr Ježek studied Economics of International Trade at the University of Economics, Prague, completing his education in 1987. Diplomacy  From 1989 he worked in a number of diplomatic and public service roles within the Czech government, related mainly to the Czech Republic's accession to the EU. In 1992 he was a volunteer at the EU Monitor Mission in the war conflict in the former Yugoslavia. In 1993 he was posted to the Czech Embassy in Copenhagen to cover the Danish EU Council Presidency dealing also with the block´s Eastern enlargement. Upon his return to Prague he participated in establishment of the EU Department at the Foreign Ministry and as head of its unit and later European Correspondent he took part in deepening of the structural political dialogue between EU and its CEE associated countries. In the period of key negotiations and decisions on launching talks on EU enlargement and shaping EU future, between 1996 and 1999, he worked at the Czech Mission to the EU in Brussels as Political Counsellor, then Head of Political Department and Deputy Ambassador. In 1999-2001 he was back in Prague at the Foreign Office as Director of the Department for Political Relations with EU and then at the expanded Department for Western Europe and EU where bilateral and EU relations were dealt with. In 2001 he was appointed Director-General of the European Integration Section which was the centre and coordinating body for European affairs in the Czech Republic. It was in charge of EU accession preparations, negotiations and also of the government communication campaign before the referendum on EU membership. He was also Deputy to the State Secretary for European Affairs and Deputy Chair of the key inter-ministerial Committee for European Integration. Office of the Prime Minister of the Czech Republic  In 2003-2004 he worked at the Office of the Czech Government as (politically independent civil servant) Director of the Prime Minister's Departments and Offices for Vladimír Špidla. Private Sector  From 2005-2013 he was a partner in BXL Consulting which he co-established - a successful private company dealing with European affairs and representing multinationals, other foreign and Czech companies but also the Cuban opposition, for example.