Marion Walsmann (née Schau, born 17 March 1963) is a German politician of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) who has been serving as a

Member of the European Parliament A Member of the European Parliament (MEP) is a person who has been elected to serve as a popular representative in the European Parliament. When the European Parliament (then known as the Common Assembly of the ECSC) first met in 1952, its ...

since 2019.

Early life and education

Walsmann grew up in

Erfurt Erfurt () is the capital and largest city in the Central German state of Thuringia. It is located in the wide valley of the Gera river (progression: ), in the southern part of the Thuringian Basin, north of the Thuringian Forest. It sits i ...

. From 1981 to 1985, she studied law at the

University of Leipzig Leipzig University (german: Universität Leipzig), in Leipzig in Saxony, Germany, is one of the world's oldest universities and the second-oldest university (by consecutive years of existence) in Germany. The university was founded on 2 Decemb ...

Political career

Career in state politics, 2004–2018

From the 2004 state elections to 2018, Walsmann served as a member of the

Landtag of Thuringia The Landtag of Thuringia is the parliament of the German federal state of Thuringia. It convenes in Erfurt and currently consists of 90 members from six parties. According to the free state's constitution, the primary functions of the Landtag ...

. As part of a 2008

cabinet reshuffle A cabinet reshuffle or shuffle occurs when a head of government rotates or changes the composition of ministers in their cabinet, or when the Head of State changes the head of government and a number of ministers. They are more common in parlia ...

, Walsmann was appointed State Minister of Justice under Minister-President

Dieter Althaus Dieter Althaus (born 29 June 1958 in Heiligenstadt/ Eichsfeld) is a German politician of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU). He served as the 3rd Minister President of Thuringia from 2003 to 2009. In 2003/04 he was the 58th President of the B ...

, replacing Harald Schliemann, who left the office due to illness. After the 2009 state elections, Walsmann became State Minister of Finance in the cabinet of newly elected Minister-President

Christine Lieberknecht Christine Lieberknecht (born Determann 7 May 1958 in Weimar) is a German politician of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU). From 2009 to 2014, she served as the Minister President of Thuringia. Lieberknecht was the first woman to become head o ...

. In December 2010, she took over as Head of the State Chancellery and as State Minister for European Affairs in another cabinet reshuffle. In September 2013 she was dismissed from the cabinet. From 2015 until 2018, Walsmann was the State Parliament's delegate to the

European Committee of the Regions The European Committee of the Regions (CoR) is the European Union's (EU) assembly of local and regional representatives that provides sub-national authorities (i.e. regions, counties, provinces, municipalities and cities) with a direct voice w ...

. In the city of Erfurt's 2018 local elections, Walsmann lost against incumbent mayor Andreas Bausewein.

Member of the European Parliament, 2019–present

Walsmann has been a

since the 2019 European elections, making her the only representative of Thuringia. She has since been serving on the

Committee on Legal Affairs The Committee on Legal Affairs (JURI) is a committee of the European Parliament. Responsibilities The main responsibilities of the committee are the interpretation and application of international and European law and the compliance of European U ...

. In addition to her committee assignments, Walsmann is part of the Parliament's delegation to the EU-North Macedonia Joint Parliamentary Committee, She is also a member of the European Parliament Intergroup on Artificial Intelligence and Digital, the European Parliament Intergroup on Disability and the European Parliament Intergroup on Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs).Intergroup on Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs)

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 ...

References

External links

1963 births Living people MEPs for Germany 2019–2024 21st-century women MEPs for Germany Christian Democratic Union of Germany MEPs {{Germany-MEP-stub