In June 2011 Irish media reported that Cox, who had previously said he wanted to stand as an independent candidate in 2011's Irish presidential election, was seeking to join Fine Gael to get the party's nomination. Fine Gael's national executive on 16 June 2011 approved his application to join the party's St Luke's branch in Cork. In July 2011, Gay Mitchell became the Fine Gael candidate. Before that, Cox was "pleased" to help prepare Fine Gael's first-100-day strategy after it won the 2011 general election. Between 2012 and 2014, Cox and Aleksander Kwaśniewski led a European Parliament monitoring mission in Ukraine to monitor the criminal cases against Yulia Tymoshenko, Yuriy Lutsenko and Valeriy Ivaschenko. Other activities International organizations European Investment Bank (EIB), Member of the Appointment Advisory Committee (since 2017) Corporate boards Appian Asset Management, Member of the Board Ecocem, Member of the Board, Chair of the Board (since 2021) European Integration Solutions LLC, Managing Partner (since 2005) KPMG, Chairman of the Public Interest Committee Liberty Global, Member of the European Advisory Council Michelin, Member of the supervisory board (since 2005) Non-profit organizations Institute of International and European Affairs (IIEA), Member of the Board Jean Monnet Foundation for Europe, President (since 2015) Yalta European Strategy (YES), Member European Movement International, President (2005–2011) Recognition On 20 May 2004, Cox was awarded the Charlemagne Prize (Karlspreis) for his achievements with regard to the enlargement of the European Union and for his work in promoting greater EU democratisation. In addition, he is a recipient a Grand Cross of the Order of the Star of Romania and a Knight Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic. References External links European Parliament Former President Pages – Cox Pat Cox in 'Politicians' file at Limerick City Library, Ireland Presidents of the European Parliament Television personalities from Dublin (city) Politicians from Dublin (city) 1952 births Living people Members of the 27th Dáil Grand Crosses of the Order of the Star of Romania Knights Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic MEPs for the Republic of Ireland 1999–2004 MEPs for the Republic of Ireland 1994–1999 MEPs for the Republic of Ireland 1989–1994 Progressive Democrats (Ireland) MEPs Alumni of Trinity College Dublin Politicians from Limerick (city) People associated with the University of Limerick Independent MEPs for Ireland Fine Gael politicians Recipients of the Order of the Cross of Terra Mariana, 1st