Åsenius Maria

Maria Åsenius, after her work as State Secretary for European Affairs in Stockholm, has been Head of Cabinet to Commissioner Malmström since January 2010. She was a member of Olli Rehn’s cabinet from 2004 to 2007 and Deputy Head of Cabinet to Commissioner Olli Rehn at the European Commission in Brussels between 1995 and 2002. Previously, Maria Åsenius was Desk Officer for the European Liberal Democrat and Reform Party Group (ELDR) Group in the European Parliament before becoming Political Adviser to the President of the European Parliament, Pat Cox, a position held until July 2004. In March 1993 she began to work in Government offices in Stockholm, first as Deputy Press Secretary to the Minister for Finance and then as a Political Adviser to the Minister for Culture and Immigration. Graduating from Stockholm School of Economics with a degree in business and economics in 1986, Maria Åsenius started a career in journalism as an editorial writer at Göteborgs-Tidningen and at Dagens Nyheter. She then worked as freelance journalist in Brasília and Paris, including as correspondent for the Swedish business magazine Veckans Affärer.