Klaus-Peter Willsch (28 February 1961, Bad Schwalbach) is a German politician of the CDU party 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 Common ...

, representing

Rheingau-Taunus – Limburg Rheingau-Taunus – Limburg 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 ...

Early life and education

Willsch attended the

University of Mainz The Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (german: Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz) is a public research university in Mainz, Rhineland Palatinate, Germany, named after the printer Johannes Gutenberg since 1946. With approximately 32,000 stud ...

and received a

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

Economics Economics () is the social science that studies the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and interactions of economic agents and how economies work. Microeconomics analyzes ...

and

Political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and la ...

. He served in the

military service Military service is service by an individual or group in an army or other militia, air forces, and naval forces, whether as a chosen job ( volunteer) or as a result of an involuntary draft (conscription). Some nations (e.g., Mexico) require ...

and began his career at Flughafen Frankfurt/Main AG.

Political career

After joining the CDU, Willsch started his political career. In 1994, he was mayor of Schlangenbad. From 2000, he is a representative of CDU in

Hesse Hesse (, , ) or Hessia (, ; german: Hessen ), officially the State of Hessen (german: links=no, Land Hessen), is a state in Germany. Its capital city is Wiesbaden, and the largest urban area is Frankfurt. Two other major historic cities are Dar ...

. Willsch has been a member of the German

since the 1998 elections. In parliament, he first served on the Finance Committee from 1998 until 2002. He was a member of the Budget Committee between 2002 and 2013. Since 2013, he has been serving on the Committee on Economic Affairs and Energy. In this capacity, he is 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 Eur ...

on aviation and arms exports. In addition to his committee assignments, Willsch chaired the German-Croatian Parliamentary Friendship Group between 2006 and 2010; he has been serving as deputy chairman ever since. Since 2014, he has been chairing the Berlin-Taipei Parliamentary Circle of Friends.

Other activities

Corporate boards

* go4copy.net eG, Member of the Supervisory Board

Non-profit organizations

* Association of German Foundations, Member of the Parliamentary Advisory Board * Fraunhofer Institute for Production Systems and Design Technology (IPK), Member of the Board of Trustees (since 2012) *

Vietnamese-German University The Vietnamese-German University (VGU) is a Vietnamese public university, located in Binh Duong, Vietnam. In its administrative and academic structure, VGU follows the German model and standards. VGU was founded officially in March 2008 under t ...

(VGU), Member of the Board of Trustees (since 2011) * Berlin Social Science Center (WZB), Member of the Board of Trustees (since 2006) *

Fraunhofer Society The Fraunhofer Society (german: Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft zur Förderung der angewandten Forschung e.V., lit=Fraunhofer Society for the Advancement of Applied Research) is a German research organization with 76institutes spread throughout Germany ...

, Member of the Senate (2005-2010)

Political positions

Within his party, Willsch is widely regarded a critic of chairwoman and 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 ...

. On 17 July 2015 he voted against the government's proposal to negotiate a third bailout for

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders ...

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

. On 16 March 2018, he was one of three CDU members who broke ranks with their parliamentary group in not voting against a motion of the Alternative for Germany; instead they decided to abstain from the vote. Ahead of the Christian Democrats’

leadership election A leadership election is a political contest held in various countries by which the members of a political party determine who will be the leader of their party. Generally, any political party can determine its own rules governing how and when a l ...

in 2018, Willsch publicly endorsed

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 o ...

to succeed Angela Merkel as the party's chair. In early 2020, he co-founded an informal cross-party group of MPs from the CDU, CSU and FDP parties who opposed a potential coalition government between CDU/CSU and the

Green Party A green party is a formally organized political party based on the principles of green politics, such as social justice, environmentalism and nonviolence. Greens believe that these issues are inherently related to one another as a foundation f ...

Personal life

Willsch is married and has five children.Klaus-Peter Willsch - Persönlich
The family resides in Holzhausen (which is called Holdesse in the local dialect), a town in

Rheingau-Taunus-Kreis Rheingau-Taunus is a Kreis (district) in the west of Hesse, Germany. Rheingau-Taunus-Kreis is part of the Darmstadt region; its main administrative seat is Bad Schwalbach. Outposted sections of the local administration are located in Idstein and R ...

References

External links

Article in the Bundestag
{{DEFAULTSORT:Willsch, Klaus-Peter 1961 births Living people Members of the Bundestag for Hesse Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz alumni Members of the Bundestag 2013–2017 Members of the Bundestag 2021–2025 Members of the Bundestag 2017–2021 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 Christian Democratic Union of Germany