Hans-Gert Pöttering

Hans-Gert Pöttering
23rd President of the European Parliament
In office
16 January 2007 – 14 July 2009
Vice President
Preceded by Josep Borrell
Succeeded by Jerzy Buzek
Leader of the European People's Party-European Democrats
In office
20 July 1999 – 16 January 2007
Preceded by Wilfried Martens
Succeeded by Joseph Daul
Member of the European Parliament
for Germany
In office
17 July 1979 – 30 June 2014
Chairman of the Konrad Adenauer Foundation
Assumed office
1 January 2010
Preceded by Bernhard Vogel
Personal details
Born (1945-09-15) 15 September 1945
Bersenbrück, Germany
Political party Christian Democratic Union
Children Johannes
Benedict
Residence Bad Iburg, Germany
Alma mater University of Bonn
University of Geneva
Graduate Institute of International Studies
Columbia University
Profession Lawyer
Website Official website

Hans-Gert Pöttering (born 15 September 1945) is a German conservative politician (CDU, European People's Party), and was the President of the European Parliament from January 2007 to July 2009. On 4 December 2009 he was elected Chairman of the Konrad Adenauer Foundation from 1 January 2010.

He has served as a Member of the European Parliament continuously since the first elections in 1979 until 2014 and was Chairman of the European People's Party-European Democrats 1999–2007.

He is a member of the Reconciliation of European Histories Group.[1]

Early life and education

Pöttering never got to know his father who was killed in action during the last days of the Second World War. After Abitur and military service, he studied law, political science and history at the University of Bonn, the University of Geneva, the Graduate Institute of International Studies in Geneva and at Columbia University in New York. He took his first state exam in jurisprudence in 1973, earned a PhD in political science and history in 1974 and took his second state exam in jurisprudence in 1976.

Political career

Pöttering was a member of the European Parliament from 1979 until 2014, the only member of the European Parliament to have served continuously since the first elections.

From 1984 to 1994 Pöttering was chairman of the Subcommittee on Security and Defence. From 1994 to 1996 he chaired the working group on the Intergovernmental Conference of the European People's Party (EPP) and EPP-ED Group, the results of which became the official EPP position for the Treaty of Amsterdam.

In 1994 Pöttering became Vice-President of the EPP, and from 1999 to 2007 he was the Chairman of the EPP-ED Group in the European Parliament. He was the top candidate of the CDU in the 2004 and the 2009 European elections.

Together with Volker Hassemer he is a member of the advisory board of the pro-European initiative "A soul for Europe".

President of the European Parliament

As part of a deal with the socialist group, it was agreed that he would succeed Josep Borrell Fontelles as President of the European Parliament in the second part of the 2004–2009 term, which he did on 16 January 2007. He was elected with 450 of 689 valid votes, and defeated Italian Green Monica Frassoni, Danish Eurosceptic Jens-Peter Bonde and French Communist Francis Wurtz.

As President of the European Parliament he initiated the House of European History project. He made reference to the House in his inaugural speech in 2007.[2] For many years he is serving as the Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the House of European History in Brussels.

Political positions

Pöttering is known as an enthusiastic European Federalist and an ally of Angela Merkel. He has stated that his priority will be to rejuvenate the European Constitution.

Recognition

Awards

  • Robert Schuman Medal of EPP-ED
  • Grand Cross of Merit with Star and Shoulder Ribbon of the Federal Republic of Germany
  • Grand Golden Medal of Merit of the Republic of Austria
  • Mérite Européen en or of Luxembourg
  • European Honorary Senator, the ‘MEP of the year 2004’, award given by the newspaper ‘European Voice’
  • Grand Cross of the Papal Order of St Gregory the Great
  • Great Cross of Merit of Queen Jelena with Star and Shoulder Ribbon, Croatia
  • Walter Hallstein-Prize 2007, Frankfurt am Main
  • European Excellence Award 2008 of the Autonomous Community of Madrid ('Premio a la Excelencia Europea 2008')
  • Cavaliere di Gran Croce Ordine al Merito della Repubblica Italiana, 2008
  • Medal of the grand duke Jaroslaw the Wise, „Řád prince Jaroslava Moudrého“ (Nejvyšší ukrajinské vyznamenání), Ukraine
  • “Three-Star-Medal” of the Republic of Latvia
  • "Ben-Gurion-Medaille" of the Ben-Gurion-University Jerusalem
  • Commander of the National Order of the Legion of Honour of France
  • Grand Cross of Civil Merit of the Kingdom of Spain
  • Polish-German Prize
  • Knight Commander's Cross of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland
  • Order of Merit to Lithuania with Cross of Commander
  • Order of Merit with Grand Cross of the Hungarian Republic
  • Grand Cross of the Star of Romania
  • Honorary citizenship of the city of Opole / Silesia (Poland)

Honorary degrees

  • Doctor Honoris Causa of Babeş-Bolyai-University in Cluj-Napoca, Romania
  • Doctor Honoris Causa of the University of Opole, Poland
  • Doctor Honoris Causa of the Warmia and Mazury University in Olsztyn, Poland
  • Doctor Honoris Causa of the University Miguel de Cervantes, Santiago de Chile
  • Doctor Honoris Causa of the University Bahçeşehir in Istanbul, Turkey
  • Doctor Honoris Causa of the University Wrocław, Poland
  • Doctor Honoris Causa of the University Ateneo de Manila, Philippines
  • Honorary Professor at the Pontifical Catholic University of Argentina Santa María de los Buenos Aires and the Grand Officer of the Republic of Tunisia
  • Doctor Honoris Causa of the University of Korea, Seoul

Furthermore, Pöttering was awarded with the honorary citizenship of the city of Bersenbrueck, his birthplace.

Other activities

Personal life

Pöttering lives in Bad Iburg, Germany. He is Roman Catholic, divorced and has two sons.[4]

Works

  • Adenauers Sicherheitspolitik 1955–1963. Ein Beitrag zum deutsch-amerikanischen Verhältnis, Droste Verlag 1975, ISBN 3-7700-0412-4
  • Europas Vereinigte Staaten, Editio Interfrom 2000, ISBN 3-7201-5237-5, with Ludger Kühnhardt
  • Weltpartner Europäische Union, Edition Interfrom 2001, ISBN 3-7201-5252-9, with Ludger Kühnhardt
  • Kontinent Europa. Kern, Übergänge, Grenzen, Edition Interfrom 2002, ISBN 3-7201-5276-6, zusammen mit Ludger Kühnhardt
  • Von der Vision zur Wirklichkeit. Auf dem Weg zur Einigung Europas, Bouvier 2004, ISBN 3-416-03053-2

References

  1. ↑ "About Us – Reconciliation of European Histories Group". Reconciliation of European Histories Group. Retrieved 1 August 2011.
  2. ↑ http://www.europarl.europa.eu/meetdocs/2004_2009/documents/dv/745/745721/745721_en.pdf
  3. ↑ Executive Board Wilfried Martens Centre for European Studies.
  4. ↑ http://www.epp-ed.eu/Press/peve06/docs/061114cv2-hgp-en.pdf
Party political offices
Preceded by
Wilfried Martens		 Leader of the European People's Party-European Democrats
1999–2007		 Succeeded by
Joseph Daul
Political offices
Preceded by
Josep Borrell		 President of the European Parliament
2007–2009		 Succeeded by
Jerzy Buzek
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