Gesine Meißner (born 22 February 1952) is a German politician who served as

Member of the European Parliament A Member of the European Parliament (MEP) is a person who has been elected to serve as a popular representative in the European Parliament. When the European Parliament (then known as the Common Assembly of the ECSC) first met in 1952, its ...

(MEP) from 2009 until 2019. She is a member of the Free Democratic Party, part of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe.

Early life and career

Gesine Meißner was born in 1952 in Uelzen, Lower Saxony, Germany. She studied nutritional science and home economics, German and English, communication and pedagogic in Munich (1971-1974) and

Hannover Hanover (; german: Hannover ; nds, Hannober) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Lower Saxony. Its 535,932 (2021) inhabitants make it the 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-largest city in Northern Germany ...

(1976-1980). From 1984 until 1993, Meißner was the deputy director of the "Rural Adult Education Lower Saxony" association. Since 1993, has been working as a freelance communication trainer.

Political career

Meißner was elected to the

Lower Saxon Landtag The Lower Saxon Landtag () or the Parliament of Lower Saxony is the state diet of the German state of Lower Saxony. It convenes in Hanover and currently consists of 146 members, consisting of four parties. Since 2022 the majority is a coalition o ...

in 2003, and was re-elected in 2008. From 2003 to 2009, she chaired the Committee on Health and Social Affairs.

Member of the European Parliament

At the 2009 European elections, Meißner was elected to the

European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it adopts ...

. She served as coordinator of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe Group on the

Committee on Transport and Tourism The Committee on Transport and Tourism (TRAN) is a committee of the European Parliament. Its current chair is the French MEP Karima Delli of the Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance. Research service The Committee is directly supported by ...

and a substitute member in the Development Committee as well as in the

Committee on Fisheries The Committee on Fisheries (PECH) is a committee of the European Parliament. Chris Davies was the chairman (2019 – 2020) - until the United Kingdom left the European Union. Committee mandate PECH is the European Parliament committee respon ...

. Meißner was also a member of the EU-Mexico and Euro-Latin America Delegations. In addition, she served as chairwoman of the European Parliament Intergroup on Seas, Rivers, Islands and Coastal Areas; a vice-chairwoman of the European Parliament Intergroup on the Freedom of Religion and Belief and Religious Tolerance; and a member of the

European Parliament Intergroup on LGBT Rights The European Parliament Intergroup on LGBTI Rights is an intergroup of the European Parliament's legislators which focuses on the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) persons both inside and outside the European Union ...

. Meißner is a member of the council of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe Party and the federal executive board of the German Free Democratic Party (FDP). She was elected as President of the Liberal Women in Germany in March 2014, and as Vice President of the ALDE Party Gender Equality Network in November 2013. In November 2017, Meißner announced that she would not stand in the 2019 European elections but instead resign from active politics by the end of the parliamentary term.

Other activities

* St Barbara Foundation, Member of the Board of TrusteesBoard of Trustees
St Barbara Foundation.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Meissner, Gesine 1952 births Living people Free Democratic Party (Germany) MEPs MEPs for Germany 2009–2014 MEPs for Germany 2014–2019 21st-century women MEPs for Germany Women members of State Parliaments in Germany Free Democratic Party (Germany) politicians Members of the Landtag of Lower Saxony University of Hanover alumni Individualist feminists