Karin Evers-Meyer | |
|---|---|
 Evers-Meyer in 2013 | |
| Member of theBundestag | |
| In office 2002–2017 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1949-09-10)10 September 1949 (age 76) Neuenburg,Lower Saxony,West Germany |
| Political party | Social Democratic Party (SPD) |
| Occupation | Politician, Member of the GermanBundestag (MP) |
Karin Evers-Meyer (born 10 September 1949) is a German politician of theSocial Democratic Party (SPD).
A former journalist and author, Evers-Meyer was first elected member of the German Bundestag in the2002 federal elections.
Between 2005 and 2009, Evers-Meyer – herself a mother of a child with disabilities[1] – served as the Federal Government Commissioner for Matters relating to Disabled Persons (at theFederal Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs) in thesecond cabinet of ChancellorAngela Merkel. Ahead of the2009 elections, German foreign ministerFrank-Walter Steinmeier included her in hisshadow cabinet of 10 women and eight men for the Social Democrats' campaign to unseat Merkel as chancellor.[2][3]
Following the2009 federal elections, Evers-Meyer was appointed the SPD parliamentary group's deputy spokesperson on defense policy. A member of the Budget Committee since the2013 elections, she served as the group's rapporteur on thebudget of theFederal Ministry of Defense (BMVg). In addition, she was a member of the German delegation to theNATO Parliamentary Assembly, led byKarl A. Lamers.
In the negotiations to form acoalition government following the2013 federal elections, Evers-Meyer was part of the SPD delegation in the working group on foreign affairs, defense policy and development cooperation, led byThomas de Maizière andFrank-Walter Steinmeier.
In late 2014, Evers-Meyer was considered as successor ofHellmut Königshaus [de] asParliamentary Commissioner for the Armed Forces but withdrew her candidacy whenHans-Peter Bartels emerged as her parliamentary group's nominee; she would have been the first woman to hold that office.[4]
In July 2016, Evers-Meyer announced that she would not stand in the2017 federal elections but instead resign from active politics by the end of the parliamentary term.[5]
Evers-Meyer has in the past voted in favor of German participation inUnited Nations peacekeeping missions as well as in United Nations-mandatedEuropean Union peacekeeping missions on the African continent, such as inSomalia – bothOperation Atalanta (2009, 2010, 2011, 2014 and 2015) andEUTM Somalia (2014, 2015 and 2016) –,Darfur/Sudan (2010, 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2014),South Sudan (2011, 2012, 2013 and 2014),Mali – bothEUTM Mali (2014 and 2015) andMINUSMA (2014 and 2015) –, theCentral African Republic (2014), andLiberia (2015). In 2013, she abstained from the votes on extending the mandate for participation in EUTM Somalia and EUTM Mali, and she voted against the participation in Operation Atalanta in 2012 and 2013.
