Mika Tapani Widgrén, Professor of Economics at the Turku School of Economics, passed away on August 16th, 2009, aged 44.

Mika Widgrén was a member of the Editorial Board of Empirica since its inception as the Journal of European Economics. He was an outstanding scholar, with numerous publications in the fields of public choice, voting theory, and trade. His recent research focused on the European integration, in particular the distribution of power in the institutions of the European Union. A thorough theoretical and empirical analysis of the politico-economic aspects of the decision-making in the European Union was one of his most recent research projects planned for the Public Choice Research Centre (PCRD) at Turku University.

Mika Widgrén was Professor of Economics at the Turku School of Economics, Finland. He was also associated with the Research Institute of the Finnish Economy (ETLA). Formerly he was Research Director at Yrjö Jahnsson Foundation for seven years. He was President of the Finnish Economic Association (2007–2008), and was Managing Editor of the Finnish Economic Journal for 1998–2002. He has consulted for the Finnish and Swedish governments, the European Commission and the Finnish Prime Minister’s Office. He did his PhD at the University of Helsinki and has been a CEPR Research Fellow since 1994 and CESifo Research Fellow since 2000.

Mika Widgrén’s death is a great loss for the scientific community in general, and for Empirica with its new focus on European Economics in particular. He was one of the most active members of the editorial board. I personally knew Mika as a very good friend. We met at numerous occasions being it in our capacities as Jean Monnet Professors at meetings of ECSA (European Community Studies Associations) in Brussels and at conferences on European Integration elsewhere. I would like to extend my condolence to his former wife and his twin sons. I wish them strength and courage through this difficult time.

Fritz Breuss

Managing Editor