Günter Krings (born 7 August 1969) is a German lawyer and politician of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) who has been serving as a member of the

Bundestag The Bundestag (, "Federal Diet") is the German federal parliament. It is the only federal representative body that is directly elected by the German people. It is comparable to the United States House of Representatives or the House of Common ...

from the state of

North Rhine-Westphalia North Rhine-Westphalia (german: Nordrhein-Westfalen, ; li, Noordrien-Wesfale ; nds, Noordrhien-Westfalen; ksh, Noodrhing-Wäßßfaale), commonly shortened to NRW (), is a state (''Land'') in Western Germany. With more than 18 million inha ...

since 2002. In addition to his parliamentary work, Krings also served as Parliamentary State Secretary at the

Federal Ministry of the Interior An interior ministry (sometimes called a ministry of internal affairs or ministry of home affairs) is a government department that is responsible for internal affairs. Lists of current ministries of internal affairs Named "ministry" * Ministry ...

in the government of Chancellor

Angela Merkel Angela Dorothea Merkel (; ; born 17 July 1954) is a German former politician and scientist who served as Chancellor of Germany from 2005 to 2021. A member of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), she previously served as Leader of the Opp ...

from 2013 until 2021.

Political career

Krings first became a member of the Bundestag in the

2002 German federal election Federal elections were held in Germany on 22 September 2002 to elect the members of the 15th Bundestag. Incumbent Chancellor Gerhard Schröder's centre-left "red-green" governing coalition retained a narrow majority, and the Social Democratic Pa ...

. In his first term from 2002 until 2005, he served on the Committee on Legal Affairs. From 2006 until 2009, he chaired the Parliamentary Advisory Board on Sustainable Development. From 2009 until 2013, Krings served as deputy chairman of the

CDU/CSU CDU/CSU, unofficially the Union parties (german: Unionsparteien, ) or the Union, is a centre-right Christian-democratic political alliance of two political parties in Germany: the Christian Democratic Union of Germany (CDU) and the Christian Soc ...

parliamentary group, under the leadership of chairman

Volker Kauder Volker Kauder (born 3 September 1949) is a German lawyer and politician of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU). He served as parliamentary group leader of the ruling CDU/CSU faction in the German ''Bundestag'' from 2005 to 2018, during which h ...

. In this capacity, he coordinated the group's legislative activities on consumer protection, domestic affairs, sports, and minorities. He was also a member of the Committee on the Election of Judges (''Wahlausschuss''), which is in charge of appointing judges to the

Federal Constitutional Court of Germany The Federal Constitutional Court (german: link=no, Bundesverfassungsgericht ; abbreviated: ) is the supreme constitutional court for the Federal Republic of Germany, established by the constitution or Basic Law () of Germany. Since its in ...

. In 2012, he helped steer through parliament legislation on a so-called

ancillary copyright for press publishers The ancillary copyright for press publishers (german: Leistungsschutzrecht für Presseverleger) is a proposal incorporated in 2012 legislation proposed by the ruling coalition of the German government, led by Angela Merkel of the Christian Dem ...

. In the negotiations to form a '' Grand Coalition'' of Merkel’s Christian Democrats (CDU together with the Bavarian CSU) and the

Social Democrats Social democracy is a political, social, and economic philosophy within socialism that supports political and economic democracy. As a policy regime, it is described by academics as advocating economic and social interventions to promote so ...

(SPD) following the 2013 federal elections, Krings was part of the CDU/CSU delegation in the working group on internal and legal affairs, led by Hans-Peter Friedrich and

Thomas Oppermann Thomas Ludwig Albert Oppermann (27 April 195425 October 2020) was a German politician and member of the Social Democratic Party (SPD). From October 2017 until his death he served as Vice President of the Bundestag. In his earlier career, he serv ...

. Krings served as Parliamentary State Secretary at the Federal Ministry of the Interior, under successive ministers Thomas de Maizière (2013–2018) and

Horst Seehofer Horst Lorenz Seehofer (born 4 July 1949) is a German politician who served as Minister of the Interior, Building and Community under Chancellor Angela Merkel from 2018 to 2021. A member of the Christian Social Union (CSU), he served as the 18 ...

(2018–2021). Since 2017, Krings has been leading the Bundestag group of CDU parliamentarians from

, the largest delegation within the CDU/CSU parliamentary group. In the negotiations to form a fourth coalition government under the leadership of Chancellor

following the 2017 federal elections, he was part of the working group on internal and legal affairs, led by Thomas de Maizière, Stephan Mayer and

Heiko Maas Heiko Josef Maas (; born 19 September 1966) is a German lawyer and politician of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) who served as the Federal Minister of Foreign Affairs (2018–2021) and as the Federal Minister of Justice and Consumer Protectio ...

. Since the

2021 elections Many elections occurred in 2021. The National Democratic Institute maintains calendar of elections around the world * 2021 United Nations Security Council election * 2021 national electoral calendar * 2021 local electoral calendar Africa * 2021 ...

, Krings has been serving on the Committee on Legal Affairs again. Since 2022, he has also been serving on the parliamentary body in charge of appointing judges to the Highest Courts of Justice, namely the

Federal Court of Justice The Federal Court of Justice (german: Bundesgerichtshof, BGH) is the highest court in the system of ordinary jurisdiction (''ordentliche Gerichtsbarkeit'') in Germany, founded in 1950. It has its seat in Karlsruhe with two panels being situat ...

(BGH), the Federal Administrative Court (BVerwG), the

Federal Fiscal Court The Federal Fiscal Court (''Bundesfinanzhof'') is one of five federal supreme courts of Germany, established according to Article 95 of the Basic Law. It is the federal court of appeal for tax and customs matters in cases which have already bee ...

(BFH), the

Federal Labour Court The Federal Labour Court (''Bundesarbeitsgericht'') is the court of the last resort for cases of labour law in Germany, both for individual labour law (mostly concerning contracts of employment) and collective labour law (e.g. cases concerning st ...

(BAG), and the

Federal Social Court The Federal Social Court (''Bundessozialgericht'') is the German federal court of appeals for social security cases, mainly cases concerning the public health insurance, long-term care insurance, pension insurance and occupational accident insu ...

(BSG). In the negotiations to form a coalition government of the CDU and

Green Party A green party is a formally organized political party based on the principles of green politics, such as social justice, environmentalism and nonviolence. Greens believe that these issues are inherently related to one another as a foundation f ...

under

Minister-President of North Rhine-Westphalia The Minister-President of North Rhine-Westphalia (german: Ministerpräsident des Landes Nordrhein-Westfalen), also referred to as Premier or Prime Minister, is the head of government of the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia (''NRW''). The po ...

Hendrik Wüst Hendrik Josef Wüst (born 19 July 1975) is a German politician currently serving as Minister-President of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. He is a member of the Christian democratic and liberal-conservative CDU. In October 2021 he succeeded ...

following the 2022 state elections, Krings and Lutz Lienenkämper led their party’s delegation in the working group on finances; their counterparts from the Green Party were

Felix Banaszak Felix Banaszak (born 24 October 1989) is a German politician of the Alliance 90/The Greens who has been serving as a member of the Bundestag since the 2021 German federal election. Early career During his studies, Banaszak worked as legislat ...

and Sven Giegold.

Other activities

* Stiftung Forum Recht, Member of the Board of Trustees (since 2022) * Association of German Foundations, Member of the Parliamentary Advisory Board *

German Foundation for World Population DSW (german: Deutsche Stiftung Weltbevölkerung) is an international non-governmental organisation addressing Sexual & Reproductive Health (SRH) and population dynamics. DSW funds its project and advocacy work from private donations and the finan ...

(DSW), Member of the Parliamentary Advisory Board (–2021) * International Association of Legislation (IAL), Member of the Advisory Council

Political positions

In June 2017, Krings voted against Germany's introduction of

same-sex marriage Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage, is the marriage of two people of the same sex or gender. marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 33 countries, with the most recent being Mexico, constituting ...

. Ahead of the Christian Democrats’

leadership election A leadership election is a political contest held in various countries by which the members of a political party determine who will be the leader of their party. Generally, any political party can determine its own rules governing how and when a l ...

in 2018, Krings publicly endorsed

Jens Spahn Jens Georg Spahn (born 16 May 1980) is a German politician who served as Federal Minister of Health in the fourth cabinet of Chancellor Angela Merkel from 2018 to 2021. A member of the centre-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU), he has bee ...

to succeed Angela Merkel as the party’s chair. For the 2021 national elections, he later endorsed

Armin Laschet Armin Laschet (; born 18 February 1961) is a German politician who served as Minister President of North Rhine-Westphalia from 27 June 2017 to 26 October 2021. He served as Leader of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) from 22 January 2021 to 3 ...

as the Christian Democrats' joint candidate to succeed Merkel as chancellor.Florian Gathmann, Kevin Hagen, Christoph Hickmann and Veit Medick (20 April 2021)
Erzwungene Abstimmung im CDU-Vorstand: Laschets Gewaltakt
'' Der Spiegel''.

References

External links

*
Bundestag biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Krings, Gunter 1969 births Living people Members of the Bundestag for North Rhine-Westphalia Members of the Bundestag 2021–2025 Members of the Bundestag 2017–2021 Members of the Bundestag 2013–2017 Members of the Bundestag 2009–2013 Members of the Bundestag 2005–2009 Members of the Bundestag 2002–2005 Parliamentary State Secretaries of Germany Members of the Bundestag for the Christian Democratic Union of Germany