Matthias Heider (born 18 May 1966 in Lüdenscheid, Germany) is a German lawyer and politician of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) who served as a member of the

German Bundestag German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

from 2009 until 2021.

Early life and education

Heider attended the

University of Bonn The Rhenish Friedrich Wilhelm University of Bonn (german: Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn) is a public research university located in Bonn, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It was founded in its present form as the ( en, Rhine U ...

, read law, and graduated in 1992. He then started to work as a lawyer in various positions, including management positions in large companies. He was awarded a doctorate in law in 2003.

Political career

Heider first became a Member of the German Bundestag in the

2009 elections The following elections occurred in the year 2009. * Electoral calendar 2009 * 2009 United Nations Security Council election Caribbean * 2009 Antiguan general election * 2009 Aruban general election * 2009 Caymanian constitutional referendu ...

, representing the 149 (Olpe - Märkischer Kreis I) constituency in

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

. He was reelected in 2013 and 2017 by first-past-the-post voting, securing comfortable majorities. In parliament, Heider served on the Committee on Economic Affairs and Energy from 2009 until 2021; in 2018, he became its deputy chairman. He also served on the Committee on the Environment, Nature Conservation, Building and Nuclear Safety from 2009 until 2013. In addition to his committee assignments, Heider became chairman of the German-American Parliamentary Friendship Group in 2018, succeeding

Peer Steinbrück Peer Steinbrück (born 10 January 1947) is a German politician who was the Chancellor-candidate of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) in the 2013 federal election. Steinbrück served as the eighth Minister-President of North Rhine-Westphalia f ...

. He was also a board member of the CDU/CSU Parliamentary Group (since 2014) and his parliamentary group's

rapporteur A rapporteur is a person who is appointed by an organization to report on the proceedings of its meetings. The term is a French-derived word. For example, Dick Marty was appointed ''rapporteur'' by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Euro ...

on antitrust and competition law (from 2013). Heider was a member of the Commission on Competition Law 4.0 of the

Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy The Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action (german: Bundesministerium für Wirtschaft und Klimaschutz, ), abbreviated BMWK (was BMWi), is a cabinet-level ministry of the Federal Republic of Germany. It was previously known as ...

from 2018 to 2019. Heider was elected twice (2017, 2019) Deputy Chairman of the Mittelstands- und Wirtschaftsunion (MIT), the economically liberal wing of the CDU/CSU. In October 2020, Heider announced that he would not stand in the 2021 federal elections and resign from active politics by the end of the parliamentary term.

Other activities

Corporate boards

ERGO Group ERGO (ERGO Group) is a group of insurance companies owned by Munich Re. ERGO is one of the largest insurance groups in Europe. It operates in over 30 countries, especially in Europe and Asia. In Europe, ERGO claims to be number 1 in the health a ...

, Member of the Advisory Board (2009-2014)

Non-profit organizations

* Federal Network Agency for Electricity, Gas, Telecommunications, Post and Railway (BNetzA), Alternate Member of the Advisory Board (since 2014) *

Rotary International Rotary International is one of the largest service organizations in the world. Its stated mission is to "provide service to others, promote integrity, and advance world understanding, goodwill, and peace through hefellowship of business, prof ...

, Member * Deutsche Industrieforschungsgemeinschaft Konrad Zuse, Member of the Senate

Political positions

In June 2017, Heider 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 Legal sex and gender, sex or gender. marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 33 countries, with the most recent being ...

.Diese Unionsabgeordneten stimmten für die Ehe für alle
''

Die Welt ''Die Welt'' ("The World") is a German national daily newspaper, published as a broadsheet by Axel Springer SE. ''Die Welt'' is the flagship newspaper of the Axel Springer publishing group. Its leading competitors are the ''Frankfurter Allg ...

'', June 30, 2017.

Personal life

Heider is married and has one child. He is a Roman Catholic and lives in his home town of

Lüdenscheid Lüdenscheid () is a city in the Märkischer Kreis district, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located in the Sauerland region. Geography Lüdenscheid is located on the saddle of the watershed between the Lenne and Volme rivers which b ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Heider, Matthias 1966 births Living people University of Bonn alumni 20th-century German lawyers 21st-century German lawyers German Roman Catholics Members of the Bundestag 2017–2021 Members of the Bundestag for North Rhine-Westphalia Members of the Bundestag 2013–2017 Members of the Bundestag 2009–2013 Members of the Bundestag for the Christian Democratic Union of Germany