Hans-Gert Pöttering: Difference between revisions

{{shortShort description|German lawyer and politician}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=SeptemberDecember 20112020}}

{{Infobox Officeholderofficeholder

| name = Hans-Gert Pöttering

| image = Pöttering, Hans-Gert-9757.jpg

| office = [[President of the European Parliament]]

| term_start = 16 January 2007

| term_end = 14 July 2009

| vicepresident = [[Rodi Kratsa-Tsagaropoulou]]

| predecessor = [[Josep Borrell]]

| successor = [[Jerzy Buzek]]

| office2 = Leader of the [[European People's Party (European Parliament group)|European People's Party-European Democrats]]

| term_start2 = 20 July 1999

| term_end2 = 16 January 2007

| predecessor2 = [[Wilfried Martens]]

| successor2 = [[Joseph Daul]]

| constituency_MP3 = [[Germany (European Parliament constituency)|Germany]]

| parliament3 = European

| term_start3 = 17 July 1979

| term_end3 = 30 June 2014

| office4 = ChairmanChair of the [[Konrad Adenauer Foundation]]

| term_start4 = 1 January 2010

| term_end4 = 1 December 2018

| predecessor4 = [[Bernhard Vogel (politician)|Bernhard Vogel]]

| successor4 = [[Norbert Lammert]]

| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1945|9|15|df=y}}

| birth_place = [[Bersenbrück]], Germany

| death_date =

| death_place =

| party = [[Christian Democratic Union (Germany)|Christian Democratic Union]]

| children = Johannes<br>Benedict

| residence = [[Bad Iburg]], [[Allied-occupied Germany|Germany]]

| profession = Lawyer

| alma_mater = [[University of Bonn]]<br>[[University of Geneva]]<br>[[Graduate Institute of International Studies]]<br>[[Columbia University]]

| website = [http://www.kas.de/wf/en/71.7632/ Official website]

'''Hans-Gert Pöttering''' (born 15 September 1945) is a German lawyer, historian and conservative politician ([[Christian Democratic Union (Germany)|CDU]], [[European People's Party]]), andwho wasserved theas [[President of the European Parliament|President]] from January 2007 to July 2009 and as Chairman of the CDU-affiliated [[EuropeanKonrad ParliamentAdenauer Foundation]] from January 20072010 to July 20092017.

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 Parliament group)|European People's Party-European Democrats]] 1999–2007. When he stepped down in 2014 he was the European Parliament's longest-serving member. As president of the European Parliament he proposed the creation of the [[House of European History]] museum in Brussels.

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 with a dissertation on West German defense policy in the 1950s and 1960s and took his second state exam in jurisprudence in 1976, fully qualifying as an attorney.

Pöttering was a member of the [[European Parliament]] from 1979 until 2014, by the end of this period he was the only member of the European Parliament to have served continuously since the first elections.

Together with [[Volker Hassemer]] he is a member of the advisory board of the pro-European initiative "[[A soul for Europe|A Soul for Europe]]". He was a member of the [[Reconciliation of European Histories Group]].<ref name="REH">{{cite web|title= About Us – Reconciliation of European Histories Group|date=21 April 2010|url=http://eureconciliation.wordpress.com/about/|publisher=[[Reconciliation of European Histories Group]]|access-date=1 August 2011}}</ref>

===President of the European Parliament, 2007–2009===

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.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.europarl.europa.eu/meetdocs/2004_2009/documents/dv/745/745721/745721_en.pdf|format=PDF|title=Conceptual Basis for a House of European History|website=Europarl.europa.eu|accessdateaccess-date=9 March 2019}}</ref>

On 4&nbsp; December 2009 Pöttering was elected Chairman of the [[Konrad Adenauer Foundation]] from 1 January 2010; he was succeeded by [[Norbert Lammert]]  in 2018.

When the EPP membership of Hungarian party [[Fidesz]] was suspended in 2019, EPP president [[Joseph Daul]] appointed Pöttering – alongside [[Herman van Rompuy]] and [[Wolfgang Schüssel]] – to a group of high-level experts who were mandated to monitor Fidesz’sFidesz's compliance with EPP values.<ref>Maïa de La Baume and Lili Bayer (20 March 20, 2019), [https://www.politico.eu/article/epp-plans-to-strip-hungarys-fidesz-of-membership-rights-document/ EPP plans to strip Hungary’s Fidesz of membership rights: document] ''[[Politico Europe]]''.</ref><ref>[https://www.epp.eu/press-releases/fidesz-membership-suspended-after-epp-political-assembly/ FIDESZ membership suspended after EPP Political Assembly] [[European People's Party]] (EPP), press release of 20 March 20, 2019.</ref>

* {{Flag|Germany}}: Great Cross with Star and Sash of the [[Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany]] (2010)<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.kas.de/statische-inhalte-detail/-/content/dr.-hans-gert-poettering|title=Dr. Hans-Gert Pöttering|last=|first=|date=2009-12-16|website=Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung|language=de|archive-url=|archive-date=|dead-url=|access-date=2019-03-04}}</ref>

* {{Flag|Tunisia}}: Grand Officer of the [[National Order of Merit (Tunisia)|National Order of Merit]] of the Republic of Tunisia (2016)<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://pomed.org/tunisia-weekly-update-essid-presents-ten-measures-to-fight-unemployment-belhaj-resigns-as-presidents-chief-of-staff/|title=Tunisia Weekly Update: Essid Presents Ten Measures to Fight Unemployment; Belhaj Resigns as President's Chief of Staff|website=POMED|language=en-US|access-date=2019-03-04|archive-date=6 July 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190706210123/https://pomed.org/tunisia-weekly-update-essid-presents-ten-measures-to-fight-unemployment-belhaj-resigns-as-presidents-chief-of-staff/|url-status=dead}}</ref>

* European Honorary Senator, the ‘MEP'MEP of the Year 2004’2004' by newspaper ‘[[Politico Europe|European Voice]]’ (2004)

* [[Friends of Europe]], Member of the Board of Trustees<ref>[https://friendsofeurope.org/network?page=0&tab=board_of_trustees&title= Board of Trustees]{{Dead link|date=January 2020 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} [[Friends of Europe]].</ref>

* [[Wilfried Martens Centre for European Studies]], Member of the Executive Board<ref>[https://www.martenscentre.eu/wilfried-martens-centre-european-studies Executive Board] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200303205112/https://www.martenscentre.eu/wilfried-martens-centre-european-studies |date=3 March 2020 }} [[Wilfried Martens Centre for European Studies]].</ref>

Pöttering lives in [[Bad Iburg]], [[Germany]]. He is Roman Catholic, divorced and has two sons.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.eppgroup.eu/|title=EPP Group in the European Parliament|website=Eppgroup.eu|accessdateaccess-date=9 March 2019}}</ref>

*[http://www.epp-ed.eu/Press/peve06/docs/061114cv2-hgp-en.pdf Biography] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303194524/http://www.epp-ed.eu/Press/peve06/docs/061114cv2-hgp-en.pdf |date=3 March 2016 }} from the official [[Europarl|EU Parliament]] web site

*{{YouTube|dmK-f88gcx8|Pöttering states European Parliament makes 75% of the laws passed by the European Union}}.

[[Category:People from BersenbrückOsnabrück (district)]]

[[Category:MEPs for Germany 2004–092004–2009]]

[[Category:MEPs for Germany 2009–142009–2014]]