that the European Commission was following a pragmatic policy balancing austerity policies with pro-growth policies and that much of the criticism was unfair. Member of the European Parliament, 2014–2015 Rehn was a candidate in the 2014 European election and was elected MEP. In the European Parliament he was elected to be one of the parliament's 14 vice presidents. Return to Finnish politics Minister of Economic Affairs, 2015–2016 In 2015, Rehn was elected in the Finnish parliamentary election with 6,837 votes. His term in the European Parliament ended on 27 April, when Rehn officially accepted the seat in the Finnish Parliament. On 29 May 2015, Rehn was appointed the Minister of Economic Affairs in Sipilä Cabinet. During his time in office, he oversaw the country's emergence from a three-year recession thanks to a combination of tax and spending cuts. He also played a key role in persuading labor unions to agree to pay cuts to restore competitiveness. Bank of Finland, 2016–present On 14 October 2016, Rehn was selected to the board of the Bank of Finland. In this capacity, he is in charge of monetary policy implementation and investment of the Bank of Finland's financial assets. He is also responsible for the bank's digitalisation process and for the activities of the Financial Supervisory Authority, where he is chairman of the board. He continued as a minister and MP till the end of 2016. Following the resignation of Christine Lagarde as managing director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in 2019, Rehn was one of the candidates considered by European governments as potential successor; he withdrew his candidacy shortly after and the post went to Kristalina Georgieva instead. Other activities International organizations European Central Bank (ECB), ex officio member of the governing council European Systemic Risk Board (ESRB), ex officio member International Monetary Fund (IMF), ex officio alternate member of the board of governors European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), ex officio member of the board of governors (2010–2014) Non-profit organizations Women Political Leaders Global Forum (WPL), member of the global advisory board World Economic Forum (WEF), member of the Europe Policy Group (since 2017) World Economic Forum (WEF), chairman of the Global Agenda Council on Public Finance and Social Protection Systems World Economic Forum (WEF), member of the Global Future Council on the Future of Financial and Monetary Systems Trilateral Commission, member of the European Group Academy of European Law