Rainer Wieland (born 19 February 1957 in

Stuttgart Stuttgart (; Swabian: ; ) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg. It is located on the Neckar river in a fertile valley known as the ''Stuttgarter Kessel'' (Stuttgart Cauldron) and lies an hour from the ...

) is a German politician and member of 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 ...

for

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. He is a member of the Christian Democratic Union, part of the

European People's Party The European People's Party (EPP) is a European political party with Christian-democratic, conservative, and liberal-conservative member parties. A transnational organisation, it is composed of other political parties. Founded by primarily Ch ...

. He has been a member of the European Parliament since 1997 and one of its vice-presidents since 2009. His area of responsibility as a member of the

includes the Stuttgart administrative district. Since 2011, Wieland has been president of the non-partisan

Europa-Union Deutschland Europa-Union Deutschland e.V. (EUD) is the German section of the Union of European Federalists (UEF). It is a non-partisan, interdenominational and independent non-governmental organization advocating federal Europe. EUD's youth organization, Ju ...

(

Union of European Federalists The Union of European Federalists (UEF) is a European non-governmental organisation, campaigning for a Federal Europe. It consists of 20 constituent organisations and it has been active at the European, national and local levels since 1946. H ...

Germany).

Education and profession

He studied law in Tübingen and Heidelberg and completed his legal clerkship in Stuttgart. Rainer Wieland is a lawyer. He is founding partner of the law firm "Theumer, Wieland & Weisenburger" in Stuttgart, which was established in 1992. There he is responsible for European law and family law.

Family

Rainer Wieland is married and has two children.

Party

Wieland is a member of the

conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...

Christian Democratic Union, part of the

. In the Young Christian Democrats Gerlingen, Wieland was local chaiman from 1975 to 1980 and chairman of the Young Christian Democrats Ludwigsburg from 1981 to 1983. From 1985 to 1988 he was deputy district chairman of the Young Christian Democrats Nord-Württemberg and from 1990 to 1992 deputy state chairman of the Young Christian Democrats Baden-Württemberg. Wieland was a member of the CDU federal party committee from 1983 to 1991, and has been a member of the executive committee of the CDU Nord-Württemberg since 1991. He has been chairman of the CDU Ludwigsburg since 1993. Furthermore, he is member of the presidium of CDU Baden-Württemberg. In terms of local politics, Rainer Wieland was a member of the municipal council of the city of Gerlingen from 1984 to 1998 and the district council of Ludwigsburg County from 1994 to 1998. He has been a member of the regional assembly of the Verband Region Stuttgart since 1994. In the non-partisan regional section of  UEF Baden-Württemberg, he was chairman from 2001 to 2013 and was a member of the ZDF Television Council as a representative of the UEF from 2006 to 2016. Since 2011, Wieland is President of

( UEF Germany). Complementary to his parliamentary work, Wieland is also a member of the non-partisan UEF Parliamentary Group European Parliament. From 2008 to 2011, Wieland was vice president of the European Movement International.

Member of the European Parliament

Wieland belongs since 1997 as a Member of the European Parliament of the CDU to the Group of the

(Christian Democrats), which represents the largest group in the European Parliament. Most recently, Rainer Wieland was again elected to the European Parliament in May 2019 from position 1 on the CDU state list of Baden-Württemberg. As a member of parliament, Wieland has been responsible for the Stuttgart administrative district, including the state capital

and the surrounding counties of

Böblingen Böblingen (; Swabian German, Swabian: ''Beblenga'') is a town in Baden-Württemberg, Germany, seat of Böblingen (district), Böblingen District. Sindelfingen and Böblingen are Geographic contiguity, contiguous. History Böblingen was found ...

, Esslingen,

Göppingen Göppingen ( Swabian: ''Geppenge'' or ''Gebbenga'') is a town in southern Germany, part of the Stuttgart Region of Baden-Württemberg. It is the capital of the district Göppingen. Göppingen is home to the toy company Märklin, and it is the b ...

, Heidenheim,

Heilbronn Heilbronn () is a List of cities and towns in Germany, city in northern Baden-Württemberg, Germany, surrounded by Heilbronn (district), Heilbronn District. With over 126,000 residents, it is the sixth-largest city in the state. From the late Mid ...

Ludwigsburg Ludwigsburg (; Swabian: ''Ludisburg'') is a city in Baden-Württemberg, Germany, about north of Stuttgart city centre, near the river Neckar. It is the largest and primary city of the Ludwigsburg district with about 88,000 inhabitants. It is ...

Schwäbisch Hall Schwäbisch Hall (; "Swabian Hall"; from 1802 until 1934 and colloquially: ''Hall'' ) is a city in the German state of Baden-Württemberg located in the valley of the Kocher river, the longest tributary (together with its headwater Lein) of the ...

Hohenlohekreis The Hohenlohe (german: Hohenlohekreis ) is a ''Landkreis'' (district) in the north of Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Neighboring districts are (from north clockwise) Neckar-Odenwald, Main-Tauber, Schwäbisch Hall and Heilbronn. Künzelsau is the ...

Main-Tauber-Kreis Main-Tauber-Kreis is a ''Landkreis'' (district) in the northeast of Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Neighboring districts are (from northwest clockwise) Miltenberg, Main-Spessart, Würzburg, Neustadt (Aisch)-Bad Windsheim and Ansbach (all in Bavaria ...

Ostalbkreis The Ostalbkreis is a ''Landkreis'' (district) in the east of Baden-Württemberg, Germany, on the border to Bavaria. Neighboring districts are (from the north clockwise) Schwäbisch Hall, Ansbach, Donau-Ries, Heidenheim, Göppingen and Rems-Murr. ...

and

Rems-Murr-Kreis Rems-Murr is a ''Landkreis'' (district) in the middle of Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Neighboring districts are (from north clockwise) Heilbronn, Schwäbisch Hall, Ostalbkreis, Göppingen, Esslingen, the district-free city Stuttgart and the distr ...

. He is a member of the Committee on Constitutional Affairs and the Committee on Budgets. Wieland is a full member of the

ACP–EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly The ACP–EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly was created to bring together the elected representatives of the European Union (the Members of the European Parliament) and the elected representatives of the African, Caribbean and Pacific states ("ACP c ...

 (ACP-EU). He is a deputy in the Committee on Petitions and in the delegation for relations with Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo. He is a member of the Kangaroo Group. He is also chairman of the regional group of CDU deputies from Baden-Württemberg in the European Parliament and a member of the EPP Group's executive committee. In January 2022, Wieland came under criticism when it became known that he had his workplace converted for almost 630,000 euros, according to an overview of the parliamentary administration. The modernization is said to have taken place as part of an "ideas laboratory" to test new office technology.

Vice President of the European Parliament

Since 2009 Wieland has been one of the 14 Vice Presidents of the European Parliament, with special responsibility for buildings, budget, transport, environment-conscious Parliament, European Political Parties as well as relations with the French, Belgian and Luxembourg authorities on the seat and places of work of the Parliament. In this capacity, Wieland is a member of the Parliament´s Bureau of the European Parliament and replacing the

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

for Africa and the ACP (African, Caribbean and Pacific) group.

Honorary offices and memberships

Wieland is a member of several local associations in his home country. In the

Theaterhaus Stuttgart Theaterhaus Stuttgart is a theatre in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and ...

, he is Member of the Board of Trustees. Furthermore, he has been committed to the Balkan region for years, be it through visits on site or support for student exchanges with schools from Baden-Württemberg.

Awards and honors

* 2009: Federal Cross of Merit with ribbon * 2018: Honorary citizen of the Kosovar city of Drenas * 2021: Order of Merit of the State of Baden-Württemberg

References

1957 births Living people Politicians from Stuttgart Christian Democratic Union of Germany MEPs MEPs for Germany 2019–2024 MEPs for Germany 2014–2019 MEPs for Germany 2009–2014 MEPs for Germany 2004–2009 MEPs for Germany 1999–2004 Recipients of the Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany {{Germany-MEP-stub