 | This article needs to be updated. (February 2020) |
Sajjad Karim | |
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| Member of the European Parliament for North West England | |
| In office 10 June 2004 – 1 July 2019 | |
| Preceded by | Jacqueline Foster |
| Succeeded by | Jane Brophy |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Sajjad Haider Karim 11 July 1970 Blackburn, Lancashire, England |
| Political party |
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| Children | 2 |
| Alma mater |
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Sajjad Haider Karim (born 11 July 1970) is a British politician. He served as a Member of the European Parliament for the North West England between 2004 and 2019.[1] Sajjad is one of 10 members of the executive of European Movement UK and Chair of Conservative European Forum Trade.
He is a solicitor by profession and has been the Legal Affairs Spokesman for the Conservatives in the European Parliament since 2009.
As well as having been a Spokesman to the WTO, Sajjad Chair's the European Parliament's South Asia Trade Monitoring Committee; South Caucasus Delegation and is rotating chair of the Advisory Committee on the Conduct of Members. He also serves as the vice-president of the European Parliament's Anti-Racism & Diversity Intergroup (ARDI)[2] and as chair of its Working Group on Islamophobia.
In 2014 Karim was the European Conservatives and Reformists candidate for President of the European Parliament. He has developed extensive experience in Trade related issues including being the Parliamentary Rapporteur for an EU-India Free Trade Agreement (FTA). In 2015, he was given the highest National Honour bestowed upon foreigners by Pakistan for his role in securing a British Government lead initiative delivering favourable market access for Pakistan to the EU, known as the Generalised Scheme of Preferences (GSP+).[3] Through Parliament, Karim has delivered reforms which deliver exemptions for SMEs from regulation and new powers for national parliaments in EU decision-making. In 2019 he was named as Dodds Parliament Magazine winner of the International Trade Award.
On 19 August 2020, Karim tweeted his concerns at the current Government's lack of commitment to human rights, which was misreported by some in the media.[4]
- ^ "Sajjad Karim MEP - 13 years standing up for North West". www.sajjadkarim.eu. Archived from the original on 12 February 2014. Retrieved 27 November 2008.
- ^ "Home". www.ardi-ep.eu. Retrieved 29 January 2019.
- ^ "Generalised Scheme of Preferences (GSP) - Trade - European Commission". ec.europa.eu. Retrieved 29 January 2019.
- ^ Zorzut, Adrian. "Former Tory MEP says he now backs Keir Starmer following Priti Patel's response over refugees". The New European. Retrieved 20 August 2020.