Paul Rübig (born 6 May 1953) is an Austrian

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

who served as a

Member of the European Parliament A member of the European Parliament (MEP) is a person who has been Election, elected to serve as a popular representative in the European Parliament. When the European Parliament (then known as the Common Assembly of the European Coal and S ...

(MEP) from 1996 until 2019. He is a member of the

Austrian People's Party The Austrian People's Party ( , ÖVP ) is a Christian-democratic and liberal-conservative political party in Austria. Since January 2025, the party has been led by Christian Stocker (as an acting leader). It is currently the second-largest p ...

, part of the

European People's Party The European People's Party (EPP) is a European political party with Christian democracy, Christian democratic, liberal conservatism, liberal-conservative, and conservative member parties. A transnational organisation, it is composed of other p ...

. Rübig became a Member of the European Parliament on 25 January 1996, and was re-elected in 1996, 1999, 2004, 2009 and 2014.

Background

Born in 1953, Rübig attended the polytechnic institute for farm machinery design in

Steyr Steyr (; ) is a statutory city (Austria), statutory city, located in the Austrian federal state of Upper Austria. It is the administrative capital, though not part of Steyr-Land District. Steyr is Austria's 12th most populated town and the 3rd lar ...

, graduating in 1972. After his military service, he studied business administration, marketing and industrial engineering at the University of Linz (1972–78). He completed his studies there with a doctorate at the Institute for Auditing, Trusteeship and Accountancy in 1984. At the same time, he worked as a lifeguard, glider and skiing instructor. He started his business career in 1972, working in the family forging company with various general management appointments until 1996. During the course of his business career he founded companies in

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

and the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

Political career

In 1991, Rübig was selected as a candidate for the

for the regional elections in

Upper Austria Upper Austria ( ; ; ) is one of the nine States of Austria, states of Austria. Its capital is Linz. Upper Austria borders Germany and the Czech Republic, as well as the other Austrian states of Lower Austria, Styria, and Salzburg (state), Salzbur ...

. After having been elected, he became Chairman of the then so-called EU Integration Committee, facilitating the accession of Austria to the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

. After this period as MP, he became a Member of the

European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the two 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 ...

on 25 January 1996, at this time by decision of the Austrian Parliament. Since then, he was four times re-elected, namely in 1996, 1999, 2004 and 2009. He held various positions within the

Austrian Federal Economic Chamber The Austrian Federal Economic Chamber (German language, de: ''Wirtschaftskammer Österreich'' or WKO) functions as the federal parent organization for the nine States of Austria, State Chambers and 110 trade associations for different industries w ...

. From 1991 to 1996 he was board member of the Upper Austria Business Promotion Institute, from 1996 to 2000 Vice-President of the Upper Austria Chamber of Commerce, and from 2000 to 2005 Industry Vice-Chairman of the federal organization of the Austrian Chamber of Commerce.

Parliamentary Work

Rübig served as member of the

Committee on Industry, Research and Energy A committee or commission is a body of one or more persons subordinate to a deliberative assembly or other form of organization. A committee may not itself be considered to be a form of assembly or a decision-making body. Usually, an assembly o ...

, of the

Committee on Budgetary Control The Committee on Budgetary Control (CONT) is a Committees of the European Parliament, committee of the European Parliament. with 30 permanent members. It can be seen as the European Union's internal "political watchdog", seeking to identify undesi ...

and is a substitute member of the Committee on Budgets. As deputy chairman, he was a member of the Maghreb delegation, and was active in the delegations to the EFTA countries and to the Arabic peninsula. As one of the initiators of the ''

WTO The World Trade Organization (WTO) is an intergovernmental organization headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland that regulates and facilitates international trade. Governments use the organization to establish, revise, and enforce the rules that g ...

Steering Committee'', Rübig held the position of the EPP small businesses spokesperson. Furthermore, he is the Treasurer of the Austrian EPP delegation in the European Parliament, Chairman of the Science and Technology Options Assessment (STOA) unit and chairman of the

Paneuropean Working Group The Paneuropean Working Group in the European Parliament was established in 1985 by Otto von Habsburg. It aims at bringing Members of the European Parliament together, who follow the vision and principles of Richard von Coudenhove-Kalergi. Already ...

in the European Parliament

Key policy objectives

Small and medium-sized enterprises

Rübig advocated in the European Parliament the interests of about 20.8 million

small and medium sized enterprises Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) or small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) are businesses whose personnel and revenue numbers fall below certain limits. The abbreviation "SME" is used by many national agencies and international organizat ...

(SME) in Europe. In Rübig's view overcoming the global economic crisis requires a reduction of costs for SME, in particular for

startup companies A startup or start-up is a company or project undertaken by an Entrepreneurship, entrepreneur to seek, develop, and validate a scalable business model. While entrepreneurship includes all new businesses including self-employment and businesses tha ...

, significantly less red-tape, innovative SME tax regimes and more focus on independent and entrepreneurial thinking in school education. In order to promote his political ideas in the public debate, Rübig founded in May 2012 together with the Danish MEP Bendt Bendtsen and the Bulgarian MEP Nadezhda Neynsky the business organization of the

, SME Europe. In February 2013, the General Assembly decided to choose Rübig as the Honorary President of the organization. Since 2003, he is also the President of SME Global. Furthermore, between 1999 and 2000 he was elected President of the SME Circle of the EPP Parliamentary Group, from 2000 to 2001 Co-President of the SME Union and from 2001 to 2003 he held this same position alone as its President.

Reduction of roaming charges

As responsible rapporteur in the industry committee and an active supporter of the citizens initiative Europeans for Fair Roaming, Rübig enforced the roaming rules at the European level. This initiative established maximum price ceilings for mobile providers. Rübig pushed for a general abolition of roaming charges before the elections to the European Parliament in May 2014. In the ''New York Times'' he called upon the responsible Commissioner

Neelie Kroes Neelie Kroes (; born 19 July 1941) is a retired Dutch politician of the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) and businessperson who served as European Commissioner from 22 November 2004 to 1 November 2014. Kroes studied Economics at ...

for swift and concrete implementation plans.

Science policy

Rübig advocated for a significant increase of research funding. In the negotiations for

Horizon 2020 The Framework Programmes for Research and Technological Development, also called Framework Programmes or abbreviated FP1 to FP9, are funding programmes created by the European Union/European Commission to support and foster research in the Europe ...

, which will follow the 7th Research Framework Programme (FP7), he supported the restructuring of the available sources towards more funding for small and medium-sized enterprises. At the same time, he requested in the ongoing budget negotiations for the new

Multiannual Financial Framework The Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) of the European Union (EU), also called the financial perspective, is a seven-year framework regulating its European Union, EU Budget of the European Union, annual budget. Proposed by the European Commiss ...

(MFF) an increase of means for growth generating measures in education, science and research.

Fiscal responsibility

As member of the Budgetary Control Committee, Rübig advocated for responsible and efficient use of tax money, advocating that the use of tax money be evaluated on its

efficacy Efficacy is the ability to perform a task to a satisfactory or expected degree. The word comes from the same roots as '' effectiveness'', and it has often been used synonymously, although in pharmacology a distinction is now often made betwee ...

, appropriateness and

cost-effectiveness Cost-effectiveness analysis (CEA) is a form of economic analysis that compares the relative costs and outcomes (effects) of different courses of action. Cost-effectiveness analysis is distinct from cost–benefit analysis, which assigns a moneta ...

Energy transition

Rübig advocated for support of renewable energies in the

energy policy of the European Union The energy policy of the European Union focuses on energy security, Sustainable energy, sustainability, and integrating the energy markets of member states. An increasingly important part of it is climate policy. A key energy policy adopted in ...

, a reduction of carbon dioxide emissions, and an increase of energy efficiency. He opposed

nuclear energy Nuclear energy may refer to: *Nuclear power, the use of sustained nuclear fission or nuclear fusion to generate heat and electricity *Nuclear binding energy, the energy needed to fuse or split a nucleus of an atom *Nuclear potential energy, the pot ...

with reference to the high security risks and costs in the life cycle of nuclear power plants (construction, operation, decommissioning, final storage).

Removal of global trade barriers

As EPP spokesperson in the WTO steering committee of the European Parliament, Rübig advocated for a sustainable removal of global trade barriers. Rübig also advocated giving companies the ability to actively participate in dispute settlement procedures of the

World Trade Organization The World Trade Organization (WTO) is an intergovernmental organization headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland that regulates and facilitates international trade. Governments use the organization to establish, revise, and enforce the rules that g ...

. He supported the possible Transatlantic Free Trade Agreement with the United States.

Europeanization of the political debate

Rübig called for a Europeanization of news coverage in national newspapers and broadcasts, on the grounds that the public debates in the member states do not pay sufficiently attention to issues debated at European Union level. In this context, Rübig gave lectures at the

College of Europe The College of Europe (; ; ) is a post-graduate institute of European studies with three campuses in Bruges, Belgium; Warsaw, Poland; and Tirana, Albania. The College of Europe in Bruges was founded in 1949 as a result of the 1948 Congress of ...

(CoE) and the French École nationale d’administration (ENA).

Handover of the Peace Light

Since

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

joined the European Union (1995), Rübig initiated the tradition of bringing the Peace Light of Bethlehem to

Strasbourg Strasbourg ( , ; ; ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est Regions of France, region of Geography of France, eastern France, in the historic region of Alsace. It is the prefecture of the Bas-Rhin Departmen ...

to hand the flame over to the

Council of Europe The Council of Europe (CoE; , CdE) is an international organisation with the goal of upholding human rights, democracy and the Law in Europe, rule of law in Europe. Founded in 1949, it is Europe's oldest intergovernmental organisation, represe ...

, the

and the city itself.

Other activities

* European Internet Foundation, Member * European Parliament Ceramics Forum (EPCF), Member * European Parliament Gypsum Forum, Member * European Parliament Intergroup on "Climate Change, Biodiversity and Sustainable Development" (CCBSD), Member * Plasma Protein Therapeutics Association (PPTA), Member

Personal life

Rübig is married and the father of an adult daughter and son.

Awards

*2015: Member of the European Parliament of the Year, Information and Communication Technology (ICT) *2013: Member of the European Parliament of the Year, Research and Innovation *2013: Honorary President of SME Europe *2008: Member of the European Parliament of the Year, Research and Innovation * 2003: Grand Decoration of Honour in Gold for Services to the Republic of AustriaOverview of all awarded Decorations for Services to the Republic of Austria by the Federal President since 1952
(PDF; 6,9 MB)

Publications

* Mühlbacher, Hans / Rübig, Paul: Internationale Patent- und Lizenzpolitik, Marketingstudie 6. 1979. * Rübig, Paul (ed.): Lizenzmarketing, Trauner Verlag, Herausgeber Kulhavy 1984. * Kaspar, Achim / Rübig, Paul (eds.): Telekommunikation - Herausforderung für Österreich, Signum Verlag. 1997 * Kaspar, Achim / Rübig, Paul (eds.): Telekommunikation II, Signum Verlag. 1999 * Kaspar, Achim / Rübig, Paul (eds.): e-wwworld>2000, Linde Verlag. 2000 * Kaspar, Achim / Rübig, Paul (eds.): Telekommunikation IV. Sternzeit 2010, Linde Verlag 2006 * De Fouloy, Christian / Rübig, Paul: The way to a united Europe, Unicorn Verlag. 2004.

External links

* * *

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rubig, Paul 1953 births Living people People from Wels Austrian People's Party MEPs MEPs for Austria 1996–1999 MEPs for Austria 1999–2004 MEPs for Austria 2004–2009 MEPs for Austria 2009–2014 MEPs for Austria 2014–2019