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Thomas Rachel | |
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 Thomas Rachel in 2020 | |
| Member of theBundestag | |
| Assumed office 1994 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Thomas Walther Rachel (1962-05-17)17 May 1962 (age 63) |
| Party | CDU |
| Alma mater | University of Bonn |
Thomas Walther Rachel (born 17 May 1962) is a German politician of theChristian Democratic Union (CDU) who has been serving as a member of theBundestag from the state ofNorth Rhine-Westphalia since 1994. He has been representing theDüren (electoral district) since2005.
In addition to his parliamentary work, Rachel served as Parliamentary State Secretary at theFederal Ministry of Education and Research in the government ofChancellorAngela Merkel from 2005 to 2021. Since 2025, he has been serving as Commissioner for Global Freedom of Religion at theFederal Foreign Office in thegovernment ofChancellorFriedrich Merz.[1]
From 1986 until 1987, Rachel worked as parliamentary assistant toMatthias Wissmann.
Rachel first became a member of the Bundestag in the1994 German federal election.[2] From 1994 until 2005, he served on the Committee for Education, Research and Technology Assessment. In addition to his committee assignments, he also served as deputy chairman of the German-Greek Parliamentary Friendship Group from 1997 until 2005 and 2021 until 2024. Since 2025 he is the chairman of the German-Greek parliamentary group.[3]
Since 2003, Rachel has been chairing theEvangelical Working Group of the CDU/CSU (EAK).
From the2005 elections until today, Rachel served as Parliamentary State Secretary at theFederal Ministry of Education and Research in the government ofChancellorAngela Merkel, under the leadership of successive ministersAnnette Schavan (2005–2013,Johanna Wanka (2013–2018) andAnja Karliczek (2018–2021).
In the negotiations to form a "grand coalition" of ChancellorAngela Merkel's Christian Democrats (CDU together with the BavarianCSU) and theSocial Democrats (SPD) following the2013 federal elections, Rachel was part of the CDU/CSU delegation in the working group on education and research policy. In similar negotiations following the2017 federal elections, he was again part of the working group on education policy.[citation needed]
From 2021until today, Rachel served on the Committee on Economic Cooperation and Development.[4]
He has been a member of the Committee on Foreign Affairs since 2025.[5]
In the negotiations to form acoalition government of the CDU andGreen Party underMinister-President of North Rhine-WestphaliaHendrik Wüst following the2022 state elections, Rachel was part of his party’s delegation in the working group on science, digitization and innovation.[6]
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