Steffen Bilger (born 16 February 1979) is a German politician of the
Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and 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 Commons ...
for the constituency of
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 ...
.
From 2018 until 2021, Bilger served as Parliamentary State Secretary at the
Federal Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure
The Federal Ministry for Digital and Transport (german: Bundesministerium für Digitales und Verkehr, ), abbreviated BMDV, is a cabinet-level ministry of the Federal Republic of Germany. Its main office is located in Berlin, while the majority ...
in
the cabinet 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 Oppo ...
.
Education and early career
After graduation in 1998 at Max Born High School in
Backnang
Backnang (; swg, Bagene) is a town in Germany in the Bundesland of Baden-Württemberg, roughly northeast of Stuttgart. Its population has increased greatly over the past century, from 7,650 in 1900 to 35,761 in 2005.
Backnang was ceded to WÃ ...
, Bilger did his
civil service
The civil service is a collective term for a sector of government composed mainly of career civil servants hired on professional merit rather than appointed or elected, whose institutional tenure typically survives transitions of political leaders ...
. He then studied law at the
Eberhard-Karls University of Tübingen, which he finished in 2004 with the first state law examination. In 2006, Bilger completed a legal traineeship at the
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 ...
Regional Court with the second state law exam.
In 2007, Bilger was admitted as a lawyer and founded a law firm together with two colleagues. From 2006 until 2009, he also worked in the strategy department of the
Mannheim
Mannheim (; Palatine German: or ), officially the University City of Mannheim (german: Universitätsstadt Mannheim), is the second-largest city in the German state of Baden-Württemberg after the state capital of Stuttgart, and Germany's 2 ...
-based energy service company
MVV Energie
MVV Energie AG ( en, MVV Energy) is a publicly listed company based in Mannheim and one of Germany's leading energy suppliers, operating in both Germany as well as Europe.
The value chain of MVV Energie AG covers: generation, trading, distri ...
.
Political career
Already as a student Bilger joined the
Young Union
The Junge Union Deutschlands (''Young Union of Germany'') or JU is the joint
youth organisation of the two conservative Germany, German Political party, political parties, Christian Democratic Union of Germany, CDU and Christian Social Union in Ba ...
in 1996 and was also a member of the CDU. From 1998 to 1999 he served as chairman of the Baden-Württemberg Land branch of the Pupils' Union and from 1998 to 2000 as federal managing director of the Pupil Union Germany. In 2006, Bilger was elected chairman of the Junge Union Baden-Württemberg and was confirmed in office in the years 2008, 2009 and 2010.
On 1 October 2011, Bilger was elected district chairman of the CDU North Württemberg, the largest of the four CDU districts in Baden-Württemberg. He won clearly against his competitor, the former Secretary of State for Arts,
Dietrich Birk. After his election as CDU district chairman, he ran again as country chairman of the Junge Union and was replaced in this office on 12 November 2011 by the Mannheim CDU city councillor
Nikolas Löbel.
Member of the German Parliament, 2009–present
In the
2009 federal election, Bilger won the direct mandate in constituency of
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 ...
with 39.9% of the vote and became a member of the German Bundestag. In the 17th Bundestag he was a full member in the Committee on Transport, Construction and Urban Development, a member of the Parliamentary Advisory Council on Sustainable Development and a deputy member of the Committees Health and Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety. He was also a full member of the Enquete Commission Growth, Prosperity, Quality of Life.
In the
2013 federal election, Bilger won again with 50.4% of the vote the direct mandate in constituency of Ludwigsburg. In the 18th Bundestag, he was a full member in the Parliamentary Advisory Council on Sustainable Development, the Committee on Transport and Digital Infrastructure and in the Joint Committee. He has also been Chairman of the MIT Transport Forum since 2013 and since 2016 a full member of the Conciliation Committee of the German Bundestag and the Bundesrat. On the Committee on Transport and Digital Infrastructure, Bilger served as 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
electric vehicle
An electric vehicle (EV) is a vehicle that uses one or more electric motors for propulsion. It can be powered by a collector system, with electricity from extravehicular sources, or it can be powered autonomously by a battery (sometimes cha ...
s and
alternative fuel vehicle
An alternative fuel vehicle is a motor vehicle that runs on alternative fuel rather than traditional petroleum fuels (petrol or diesel fuel, petrodiesel). The term also refers to any technology (e.g. electric car, hybrid electric vehicles, Solar ...
s.
In addition to his committee assignments, Bilger also headed the Parliamentary Advisory Board on Electromobility. Furthermore, he was also Chairman of the Young Group, the association of all Union members under the age of 35, until January 2018.
In the
2017 federal election, Bilger won again the direct mandate in the constituency of Ludwigsburg with 38.3%. He became once again a full member of the Committee on Transport and Digital Infrastructure. In the associated working group of the CDU / CSU parliamentary group, he was elected at the end of January 2018 with 95.5% of the votes as chairman and deputy chairman of the group.
During the coalition negotiations between the Union and the SPD, Bilger was part of the working group on transport and infrastructure, led by
Thomas Strobl
Thomas Strobl (born 17 March 1960) is a German politician of the Christian Democratic Union of Germany, Christian Democratic Union (CDU) who has been serving as Deputy Minister-President of Baden-Württemberg since 2016.
From 1998 until 2016 Str ...
,
Alexander Dobrindt
Alexander Dobrindt (born 7 June 1970) is a German politician of the Christian Social Union of Bavaria (CSU). Between 2013 and 2017, he served as Federal Minister of Transport and Digital Infrastructure in the government of Chancellor Angela Mer ...
and
Sören Bartol
Sören Bartol (born 4 September 1974) is a German politician of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) who has been serving as Parliamentary State Secretary in the Federal Ministry for Housing, Urban Development and Building in the coalition governmen ...
. From 2018 until 2021, he served as Parliamentary State Secretary at the Federal Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure under minister
Andreas Scheuer. In this capacity, he was also the Federal Government Coordinator for Freight and Logistics.
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 ...
, Bilger has been serving as one his parliamentary group's deputy chairs, under the leadership of successive chairs
Ralph Brinkhaus
Ralph Brinkhaus (born 15 June 1968) is a German politician of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU). He served as parliamentary leader of the CDU/CSU group in the Bundestag from 2018 to 2022.
Education and early career
Brinkhaus was born on 15 J ...
(2021–2022) and
Friedrich Merz
Joachim-Friedrich Martin Josef Merz (born 11 November 1955) is a German lawyer and politician, serving as Leader of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) since 31 January 2022 and as leader of the Union parliamentary group as well as the Leader of ...
(2022–present). In this capacity, he oversees the group’s legislative activities on agriculture,
environmental policy
Environmental policy is the commitment of an organization or government to the laws, regulations, and other policy mechanisms concerning environmental issues. These issues generally include air and water pollution, waste management, ecosystem mana ...
, nature conservation and consumer protection.
Other activities
*
Federal Agency for Civic Education
The Federal Agency for Civic Education (FACE, german: Bundeszentrale für politische Bildung (''bpb'')) is a German federal government agency responsible for promoting civic education. It is subordinated to the Federal Ministry of the Interior, B ...
, Chairman of the Board of Trustees (since 2014)
*
Federal Network Agency for Electricity, Gas, Telecommunications, Post and Railway (BNetzA), Member of the Rail Infrastructure Advisory Council (since 2013)
* Quadriga Hochschule Berlin, Member of the Advisory Board on Politics and Public Affairs
Advisory on Politics and Public Affairs
Quadriga Hochschule Berlin.
* 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, an ...
, Member of the Board of Trustees
* German Renewable Energy Federation (BEE), Member of the Parliamentary Advisory Board (2009-2012)
Personal life
Bilger is married and has three children.
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bilger, Steffen
1979 births
Living people
Members of the Bundestag for Baden-Württemberg
People from Weilheim-Schongau
University of Tübingen alumni
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 for the Christian Democratic Union of Germany
Parliamentary State Secretaries of Germany