Ulrich Wolfgang Kelber (born 29 March 1968) is a German former politician of the

Social Democratic Party The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology. Active parties Fo ...

(SPD) who has been serving as the

Federal Commissioner for Data Protection and Freedom of Information The Federal Commissioner for Data Protection and Freedom of Information (BfDI, german: Bundesbeauftragter für den Datenschutz und die Informationsfreiheit), referring to either a person or the agency they lead, is tasked with supervising data ...

since 7 January 2019. From 2000 to 2019, he was the

member of the Bundestag Member of the German Parliament (german: Mitglied des Deutschen Bundestages) is the official name given to a deputy in the German Bundestag. ''Member of Parliament'' refers to the elected members of the federal Bundestag Parliament at the Reichs ...

for

Bonn The federal city of Bonn ( lat, Bonna) is a city on the banks of the Rhine in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, with a population of over 300,000. About south-southeast of Cologne, Bonn is in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ru ...

Life

Ulrich Kelber was born in Bamberg and grew up in

. From 1987 to 1993 he studied

computer science Computer science is the study of computation, automation, and information. Computer science spans theoretical disciplines (such as algorithms, theory of computation, information theory, and automation) to practical disciplines (includi ...

and

biology Biology is the scientific study of life. It is a natural science with a broad scope but has several unifying themes that tie it together as a single, coherent field. For instance, all organisms are made up of cells that process hereditary i ...

at 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 ...

. He worked in IT until 2002.

Political career

Career in local politics

Kelber became a member of the SPD in 1985 and was the local party chairman in Bonn from 2001 to 2008, and a member of the SPD executive board 2009 to 2011.

Member of the German Parliament, 2000–2019

Kelber became a member of the Bundestag on 1 September 2000, replacing

Rudolf Dreßler Rudolf Dreßler (born 17 November 1940 in Wuppertal) is a German politician and diplomat. Life In his childhood he lived in Sprockhövel and went to school in Wuppertal. He learned at a printer company and worked then for different newspapers ...

who left. He won re-election as directly elected member for the constituency of

in each of the elections from 2002 to 2017. In parliament, Kelber was a member of the Committee on the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety from 2000 until 2005, where he served as the SPD 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 Eur ...

on the

European Union Emission Trading Scheme The European Union Emissions Trading System (EU ETS) is a "cap and trade" scheme where a limit is placed on the right to emit specified pollutants over an area and companies can trade emission rights within that area. It covers around 45% of th ...

(EU ETS). From 2005 until 2013, he served as the group's deputy chairman under the leadership of successive chairmen Peter Struck (2005-2009) and

Frank-Walter Steinmeier Frank-Walter Steinmeier (; born 5 January 1956) is a German politician serving as President of Germany since 19 March 2017. He was previously Federal Minister of Foreign Affairs from 2005 to 2009 and again from 2013 to 2017, as well as Vice Chan ...

(2009-2013). In this capacity, he coordinated the group's policy initiatives on the environment, energy, sustainability, agriculture and consumer protection. In the negotiations to form a '' Grand Coalition'' of the Christian Democrats (CDU together with the Bavarian CSU) and the SPD following the

2013 elections The following elections were occurred in the year 2013. Asia * 2013 Armenian local elections 26 May, 17 November, and 8 December 2013 * 2013 Armenian presidential election 18 February 2013 * 2013 Bangladeshi presidential election 22 April 2013 ...

, Kelber was part of the SPD delegation in the working group on the environment and agriculture, led by

Katherina Reiche Katherina Reiche (born 16 July 1973 in Luckenwalde, Bezirk Potsdam) is a German manager and former politician of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU). Education After receiving her Abitur in 1992, she studied chemistry at the University of Po ...

and Ute Vogt. In the coalition 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 ...

, he subsequently served as Parliamentary State Secretary at the

Federal Ministry of Justice and Consumer Protection The Federal Ministry of Justice (german: Bundesministerium der Justiz, ), abbreviated BMJ, is a cabinet-level ministry of the Federal Republic of Germany. Under the German federal system, individual States are most responsible for the administr ...

under the leadership of minister

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 ...

from 2014 until 2018. In the negotiations to form a fourth coalition government under Merkel's leadership following the 2017 federal elections, Kelber was part of the working group on internal and legal affairs, led by Thomas de Maizière, Stephan Mayer and Heiko Maas.

Federal Commissioner for Data Protection and Freedom of Information, 2019–present

Kelber was elected to become Federal Commissioner for Data Protection in 2018 and took up the office on 7 January 2019 after giving up his Bundestag seat.

Other activities

Eurosolar Eurosolar - European Association for Renewable Energies (Own spelling: EUROSOLAR) is a German association with headquarters in Bonn. The association has sections in 13 countries (Germany, Bulgaria, Denmark, Georgia, Italy, Luxembourg, Austria, ...

, Member * German Cyclist's Association (ADFC), Member * German Federation for the Environment and Nature Conservation (BUND), Member * German United Services Trade Union (ver.di), Member * Greenpeace, Member * Development and Peace Foundation (SEF), Member of the Board of Trustees (2018- 2019)Board of Trustees
Development and Peace Foundation (SEF). * Federal Network Agency for Electricity, Gas, Telecommunications, Post and Railway (BNetzA), Member of the Advisory Board (2005-2010)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kelber, Ulrich Living people 1968 births People from Bamberg University of Bonn alumni Members of the Bundestag for North Rhine-Westphalia Politicians from Bonn Members of the Bundestag 2013–2017 Members of the Bundestag 2009–2013 Members of the Bundestag 2005–2009 Members of the Bundestag 2002–2005 Members of the Bundestag 1998–2002 Members of the Bundestag for the Social Democratic Party of Germany