Ondřej Kovařík

Ondřej is a former Czech Member of the European Parliament, sitting in the Renew Europe political group. He is a former member of the Economic and Monetary Affairs committee, and in that capacity was the Chairman of the Working Group for Access to Finance for SMEs. His legislative work in that committee has focused on digital finance and was instrumental in the drafting and negotiation of the EU's MiCA Regulation and is also leading work on the revision of Payment Services Legislation. He is also engaged on the Open Finance legislative proposal.  His work extends from SME financing to transport and tourism, border management, research and the practical use of new technologies, for example those based on artificial intelligence, and broader access and use of digital finance for businesses and consumers. 

His career to date has been dedicated to public service, primarily in various roles within the Czech civil service, but also in European public administration. Specifically, at the Czech Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Office of the Government, the Embassy of the Czech Republic in Ottawa, the Czech Ministry of Defence and the European Parliament.