Volker Wissing | |
---|---|
Minister of Digital Affairs and Transport | |
Assumed office 8 December 2021 | |
Chancellor | Olaf Scholz |
Preceded by | Andreas Scheuer |
General Secretary of the Free Democratic Party | |
Assumed office 19 September 2020 | |
Leader | Christian Lindner |
Preceded by | Linda Teuteberg |
Leader of the Free Democratic Party in Rhineland-Palatinate | |
Assumed office 7 May 2011 | |
Deputy | Daniela Schmitt Sandra Weeser |
Preceded by | Rainer Brüderle |
Deputy Minister-President of Rhineland-Palatinate | |
In office 18 May 2016 –18 May 2021 | |
Minister- President | Malu Dreyer |
Preceded by | Eveline Lemke |
Succeeded by | Anne Spiegel |
State Minister for Economics,Transport,Agriculture and Viticulture of Rhineland-Palatinate | |
In office 18 May 2016 –18 May 2021 | |
Minister- President | Malu Dreyer |
Preceded by | Eveline Lemke |
Succeeded by | Daniela Schmitt |
Member of the Bundestag for Rhineland-Palatinate | |
Assumed office 26 October 2021 | |
Preceded by | Manuel Höferlin |
Constituency | FDP list |
In office 23 January 2004 – 22 October 2013 | |
Preceded by | Marita Sehn |
Succeeded by | Manuel Höferlin (2017) |
Constituency | FDP list |
Member of the Landtag of Rhineland-Palatinate | |
In office 18 May 2016 – 18 May 2021 | |
Preceded by | Herbert Mertin (2011) |
Succeeded by | Daniela Schmitt |
Constituency | FDP list |
Personal details | |
Born | Landau,West Germany (now Germany) | 22 April 1970
Political party | FDP |
Children | 1 |
Residence | Landau |
Alma mater | |
Occupation |
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Volker Wissing (born 22 April 1970) is a German lawyer, former judge and politician of the liberal Free Democratic Party (FDP) who has been serving as the party's General Secretary since 2020, and as Minister for Transport in the federal government under Chancellor Olaf Scholz since 2021. He previously was the Deputy Minister-President of Rhineland-Palatinate in the state government under Minister-President Malu Dreyer from 2016 to 2021 and a member of the German Parliament from 2004 to 2013.
Wissing was born 1970 in the German town of Landau in der Pfalz and studied law at the Saarland University. [1]
Wissing achieved a law degree and worked for some time as a judge before he entered professional politics. [2]
Wissing entered the FDP in 1998. He became a member of the German Bundestag in 2004 when he took the seat of Marita Sehn who had died in a car accident. From 2004 until 2013, he served on the Finance Committee; he chaired the committee from 2009 until 2013. From 2011 until 2013, he also served as one of his parliamentary group's deputy chairpersons, under the leadership of chairman Rainer Brüderle.
In the negotiations to form a coalition government of the FDP and the Christian Democrats (CDU together with the Bavarian CSU) following the 2009 federal elections, Wissing was part of the FDP delegation in the working group on financial policy and taxes, led by Thomas de Maizière und Hermann Otto Solms. [3]
On the state level, Wissing became chairman of the party's branch in Rhineland-Palatinate in 2011 succeeding Rainer Brüderle. [4] He led the Free Democratic Party back into the Landtag of Rhineland-Palatinate in the 2016 state election. After coalition negotiations Wissing became Deputy Minister President and State Minister for Economics, Transport, Agriculture and Viticulture in Malu Dreyer's second cabinet.
In 2020 FDP leader Christian Lindner nominated Wissing to serve as General Secretary of the party, succeeding Linda Teuteberg. Subsequently, Wissing announced his switch for state politics to the federal arena, announcing his candidacy for the Bundestag in the 2021 federal election.
On 24 November 2021, Wissing was nominated by the Federal Executive Committee of the FDP for the post of Federal Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure in the designated federal government. He took office as Transport Minister on 8 December as the Scholz cabinet was sworn in.
Early in his tenure, Wissing ordered the blocking of German airspace for Russian aircraft in response to the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine. [5]
In July 2022, Wissing publicly presented his plans to meet emissions reductions targets in the German transport sector, shortly before the deadline. The scientific committee tasked with assessing the sufficiency of his proposed measures declared the plan entirely insufficient and decided not even to evaluate it, given there was "nothing to be evaluated". [6]
In March 2023, Wissing participated in the first joint cabinet meeting of the governments of Germany and Japan in Tokyo, chaired by Chancellor Scholz and Prime Minister Fumio Kishida. [7] In October 2023, he joined the first joint cabinet retreat of the German and French governments in Hamburg, chaired by Scholz and President Emmanuel Macron. [8] [9]
Wissing is married and has a daughter. The family lives in Bad Bergzabern and Berlin's Prenzlauer Berg district. [12]
Sabine Bätzing-Lichtenthäler is a German politician of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) who has been leading her party’s group in the State Parliament of Rhineland-Palatinate since 2021. She is the first woman in this position.
Rainer Brüderle is a German politician and member of the Free Democratic Party (FDP). He served as Minister of Economics and Transport of Rhineland-Palatinate from 1987–1998. On 28 October 2009, he was appointed Federal Minister for Economics and Technology in the second cabinet of Chancellor Angela Merkel. Following his election in May 2011 as chairman of his party's parliamentary group, Brüderle resigned as Federal Minister for Economic Affairs and Technology.
Christian Wolfgang Lindner is a German politician of the Free Democratic Party (FDP) who has been serving as the Federal Minister of Finance since 8 December 2021. He has been the party leader of the FDP since 2013 and a Member of the Bundestag (MdB) for North Rhine-Westphalia since 2017, previously holding a seat from 2009 until 2012.
Tobias Lindner is a German economist and politician of Bündnis 90/Die Grünen who has been serving as member of the Bundestag since 2011, as a list member for Rhineland-Palatinate. Since December 8, 2021, he has been Minister of State at the Federal Foreign Office.
Oliver Luksic is a German politician of the Free Democratic Party (FDP) who has been a Member of the Bundestag for Saarland since the 2017 elections, after having previously served from 2009 until 2013.
Martin Zeil is a German lawyer and politician of the Free Democratic Party (FDP).
Marco Buschmann is a German lawyer and politician of the Free Democratic Party (FDP) who has been serving as Federal Minister of Justice in Chancellor Olaf Scholz's cabinet since 2021. He has served as a member of the Bundestag from the state of North Rhine-Westphalia from 2009 to 2013 and again since 2017.
Katja Hessel is a German lawyer and politician of the Free Democratic Party (FDP) who has been serving as a member of the Bundestag from the state of Bavaria since 2017.
Bettina Stark-Watzinger is a German economist and politician of the Free Democratic Party (FDP) who has been serving as Minister of Education and Research in Chancellor Olaf Scholz's cabinet since 2021. She has been a member of the Bundestag from the state of Hesse since 2017.
Benjamin Strasser is a German lawyer and politician of the Free Democratic Party (FDP) who has been serving as a member of the Bundestag from the state of Baden-Württemberg since 2017, representing the Ravensburg district.
Michael Theurer is a German politician of the Free Democratic Party (FDP) who has been serving as a member of the Bundestag from the state of Baden-Württemberg since 2017. From 2009 until 2017, he was a Member of the European Parliament.
Florian Toncar is a German lawyer and politician of the Free Democratic Party (FDP) who has been serving as Parliamentary State Secretary in the Federal Ministry of Finance in the coalition government of Chancellor Olaf Scholz since 2021. He has served as a member of the Bundestag from the state of Baden-Württemberg from 2005 until 2013 and since 2017.
Steffi Lemke is a German politician of Alliance 90/The Greens who has been serving as Federal Minister for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Nuclear Safety, and Consumer Protection in Chancellor Olaf Scholz's cabinet since 2021.
Thomas Hitschler is a German politician of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) who has been serving as a member of the Bundestag from the state of Rhineland-Palatinate since 2013.
The 2021 Rhineland-Palatinate state election was held on 14 March 2021 to elect the 18th Landtag of Rhineland-Palatinate. The outgoing government was a "traffic light coalition" of the Social Democratic Party (SPD), Free Democratic Party (FDP), and The Greens led by Minister-President Malu Dreyer.
Daniela Schmitt is a German politician of the Free Democratic Party (FDP) who has been serving as State Minister for Economics, Transport, Agriculture and Viticulture in the state government of Rhineland-Palatinate since 2021. From 2013 until 2021, she was Secretary of State for Economic Affairs, Transport, Agriculture and Viticulture under minister Volker Wissing.
Anne Spiegel is a German politician of Alliance 90/The Greens. She served as Federal Minister for Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth in the cabinet of Chancellor Olaf Scholz since 8 December 2021; she announced her resignation on 11 April and was dismissed by the President on 25 April 2022.
The Third Dreyer cabinet is the current state government of Rhineland-Palatinate, sworn in on 18 May 2021 after Malu Dreyer was elected as Minister-President of Rhineland-Palatinate by the members of the Landtag of Rhineland-Palatinate. It is the 25th Cabinet of Rhineland-Palatinate.
Doris Maria Ahnen is a German politician of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) who has been serving as Minister for Finance in the state government of Rhineland-Palatinate since 2014. Prior to that she served as the Minister for Education, Research and Culture since 2001. She has been a part of the State Parliament of Rhineland-Palatinate since the 2006 elections. She is also a member of the German Bundesrat for Rhineland-Palatinate.
Stefanie Hubig is a German politician of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) who has been serving as State Minister for Education in the government of Minister-President of Rhineland-Palatinate Malu Dreyer since 2016.