Tanja Gönner (born 23 July 1969) is a German lawyer and politician of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) who has been serving as managing director of the

Federation of German Industries The Federation of German Industries (german: Bundesverband der Deutschen Industrie (BDI)) is the umbrella organization of German industry and industry-related service providers. It represents 39 industry associations and more than 100,000 compani ...

(BDI), the leading lobby organization of

German industry The economy of Germany is a Developed country, highly developed social market economy. It has the largest national economy in Europe, the List of countries by GDP (nominal), fourth-largest by nominal GDP in the world, and List of countries by ...

Early life and education

Gönner was born 1969 in the West German town of

Sigmaringen Sigmaringen (Swabian German, Swabian: ''Semmerenga'') is a town in southern Germany, in the state of Baden-Württemberg. Situated on the upper Danube, it is the capital of the Sigmaringen (district), Sigmaringen district. Sigmaringen is renowne ...

and studied

law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been vario ...

at the

University of Tübingen The University of Tübingen, officially the Eberhard Karl University of Tübingen (german: Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen; la, Universitas Eberhardina Carolina), is a public research university located in the city of Tübingen, Baden-Wü ...

Political career

Career in national politics

From 2002 to 2004 Gönner served as member of the Bundestag, representing the

Zollernalb – Sigmaringen Zollernalb – Sigmaringen is an electoral constituency (German language, German: ''Wahlkreis'') represented in the Bundestag. It elects one member via first-past-the-post voting. Under the current constituency numbering system, it is designated a ...

district. From 2000 to 2012, Gönner was part of the federal executive of the CDU, under leadership of the party’s chairwoman

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 ...

Career in state government

In 2004, Gönner was appointed State Minister for Social Affairs in the government of

Minister-President A minister-president or minister president is the head of government in a number of European countries or subnational governments with a parliamentary or semi-presidential system of government where they preside over the council of ministers. It ...

Erwin Teufel Erwin Teufel (born 4 September 1939, in Zimmern ob Rottweil) is a German politician of the CDU. Political career Teufel was the leader of the CDU parliamentary group in the Landtag of Baden-Württemberg from 1978 to 1991. Teufel was Minister ...

of Baden-Württemberg. In the subsequent governments of

Ministers-President A minister-president or minister president is the head of government in a number of European countries or subnational governments with a parliamentary or semi-presidential system of government where they preside over the council of ministers. It ...

Günther Oettinger Günther Hermann Oettinger (born 15 October 1953) is a German lawyer and politician of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) who served as European Commissioner for Budget and Human Resources from 2017 to 2019, as European Commissioner for Digita ...

and

Stefan Mappus Stefan Mappus (born 4 April 1966) is a former German politician from the Christian Democratic Union (CDU). He was the 8th Minister President of the state of Baden-Württemberg 2010–2011 and chairman of the CDU Baden-Württemberg 2009–2011 ...

, she served as State Minister of the Environment from 2005 to 2011. In this capacity, she notably defended the controversial

Stuttgart 21 Stuttgart 21 is a railway and urban development project in Stuttgart, Germany. It is a part of the Stuttgart–Augsburg new and upgraded railway and the Main Line for Europe (Paris—Vienna) within the framework of the Trans-European Networks. ...

infrastructure project. In the negotiations to form a

coalition government A coalition government is a form of government in which political parties cooperate to form a government. The usual reason for such an arrangement is that no single party has achieved an absolute majority after an election, an atypical outcome in ...

following the 2009 federal elections, Gönner was part of the working group on the environment, agriculture and consumer protection, led by

Ilse Aigner Ilse Aigner (born 7 December 1964) is a German politician and member of the Christian Social Union of Bavaria (CSU). Aigner was born in Feldkirchen-Westerham, Bavaria, and entered Angela Merkel's grand coalition cabinet as Federal Minister of ...

and

Michael Kauch Michael Kauch (born 4 May 1967, in Dortmund) is a German politician of the Free Democratic Party who served as Member of the Bundestag between 2003 and 2013. Early life and education Kauch was born in Dortmund and attended the ''Helmholtz-Gymnas ...

. In 2011, news media reported that Gönner was the preferred candidate of

Chancellor Chancellor ( la, cancellarius) is a title of various official positions in the governments of many nations. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the or lattice work screens of a basilica or law cou ...

to succeed Matthias Kurth as president of the Federal Network Agency for Electricity, Gas, Telecommunications, Posts and Railway (BNetzA); after negotiations, however, Jochen Homann was eventually appointed.

Life after politics

From 2012 to 2022, Gönner served as chair of the board at GIZ. Since June 2022, Gönner has been serving as Managing Director of the Federation of German Industries (BDI).

Other activities

Government bodies

* German Council for Sustainable Development (RNE), Member (since 2023, appointed ad personam by

Olaf Scholz Olaf Scholz (; born ) is a German politician who has served as the chancellor of Germany since 8 December 2021. A member of the Social Democratic Party of Germany, Social Democratic Party (SPD), he previously served as Vice Chancellor of German ...

)

Corporate boards

VfB Stuttgart Verein für Bewegungsspiele Stuttgart 1893 e. V., commonly known as VfB Stuttgart (), is a German sports club based in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg. The club's football team is currently part of Germany's first division, the Bundesliga. VfB Stu ...

, Member of the Supervisory Board (since 2022) *

Fraport Fraport AG Frankfurt Airport Services Worldwide,Stuttgart Airport Stuttgart Airport (German: ''Flughafen Stuttgart'', formerly ''Flughafen Stuttgart-Echterdingen'') is the international airport of Stuttgart, the capital of the German state of Baden-Württemberg. It is christened in honor of Stuttgart's forme ...

, Chair of the Supervisory Board (2010–2011)

Non-profit organizations

* Energy and Climate Policy and Innovation Council (EPICO), Member of the Advisory Board (since 2021) * World Vision Germany, Member of the Board of Trustees (since 2020) * Stiftung Liebenau, Member of the Supervisory Board (since 2012) * Agora Verkehrswende, Member of the Council * Bundesverband der Unternehmervereinigungen (BUV), Member of the Advisory Board * Institut der deutschen Wirtschaft, Member of the Presidium * Quadriga Hochschule Berlin, Member of the Advisory Board on Politics and Public Affairs * Tönissteiner Group, Member of the Board of Trustees * WLSB-Sportstiftung, Member of the Board of Trustees *

Konrad Adenauer Foundation The Konrad Adenauer Foundation (german: Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung, KAS) is a German political party foundation associated with but independent of the centre-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU). The foundation's headquarters are located in Sank ...

(KAS), Member of the Board of Directors *

Federal Academy for Security Policy The Federal Academy for Security Policy (german: Bundesakademie für Sicherheitspolitik, BAKS) is the Federal Republic of Germany’s interministerial institution for advanced studies, education and training in security policy Security policy is ...

(BAKS), Member of the Advisory Board (2018–2021)Beirat für die BAKSBundesakademie für Sicherheitspolitik konstituiert sich neu

(BAKS), press release of 18 October 2018.

References

Living people 1969 births Christian Democratic Union of Germany politicians {{Germany-politician-stub