MEP Maria GRAPINI - (born on the 7th of, 1954, Bereşti, Galati County, Romania) -is a business woman, engineer and politician from Romania. From May, 2014 she is a MEP.
• She graduated the Theoretical High School in Bereşti in 1973 and followed the "Gheorghe Asachi" Technical University from Iaşi, Faculty of Textiles, Specialization "Mechanical Technology of Filing and Weaving", which she graduated in 1978;
• From January 1990 until 2012, she was General Manager of SC Pasmatex S.A. During this period, she was very involved in the development of the textile industry and the creation of jobs in this branch. From 2002 to 2010, she was the president of the Light Industry Employers’ Federation, Vice President of UGIR 1903, and since 2003, member of the National Exporters’ Council;
• She joined politics 15 years after the Revolution of 1989, first set up and led several NGOs,
• Since then, she has occupied some public functions, of which the most important are:
- 1998 - 2012: President of the Association of Women Entrepreneurs in Romania;
-1994-1998 and 2002-2006: Vice-President of the Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture of Timisoara;
-2015 - Present: Co-President at the national level of the Party of Humanitarian Power (Social-Liberal) in Romania and the President of the Timis County Branch;
- From 2005 to 2015 President of Partidului Umanist( Conservator)
-December 21, 2012 - March, 2014: Deputy Minister for Small and Medium Enterprises, Business and Tourism in the Victor Ponta’s second Government (2012-2016);
-From May, 2014 - present: Member of the European Parliament;
For her outstanding involvement in all her activities she has been rewarded with numerous awards.