Martin Bangemann (15 November 1934 – 28 June 2022) was a German politician and a leader of theFree Democratic Party (FDP) from 1985 to 1988. He was German Federal Minister of Economics and European Commissioner.
Bangemann was born on 15 November 1934 inWanzleben.[1] He studied law inTübingen andMunich, and earned aDr. jur. (not equivalent toJ.D., but aPhD in law) in 1962 with a dissertation entitledBilder und Fiktionen in Recht und Rechtswissenschaft (Imagery and fiction in law and jurisprudence).[2] He qualified as an attorney in 1964. In 1963, he joined the FDP.[3] He worked as a lawyer inBaden-Württemberg.[4]
In 1972, he was elected to theBundestag and became briefly Secretary General of the FDP.[5]
Bangemann was a member of theEuropean Parliament from 1973 to 1984; from 1976 to 1979 he was vice-chairman, from 1979 to 1984 chairman of theLiberal and Democratic Group. From 1978 to 1979 he was vice-chair of the Committee on Budgets.[6]
Bangemann was the GermanFederal Minister of Economics from 1984 to 1988.[7] Problems in his tenure were high unemployment and the steel, coal and shipyard crises.[5]
In 1988, Bangemann joined theEuropean Commission. He was Commissioner for the internal market and industrial affairs in theDelors Commission from 1989 to 1995.[8] He was then Commissioner for Industrial affairs, Information & Telecommunications Technologies in theSanter Commission from 1995 to 1999.[citation needed]
As commissioner he led a "high-level group" that drew up the report "Europe and the Global Information Society" in 1994.[9][10] This document contained recommendations to the European Council on the measures that Europe should take regarding information infrastructure. It became known as the "Bangemann report" and influenced many EU policies.[11]
He then moved from European politics to the board of the Spanish groupTelefónica.[12][13] In addition, Bangemann ran a consulting agency.[5]
^Mackay, Hugh; Maples, Wendy; Reynolds, Paul (2001).Investigating the Information Society. London/New York: Routledge & The Open University. p. 8.ISBN0-415-26831-1.
Walter, Franz (June 2005). "Die Integration der Individualisten. Parteivorsitzende in der FDP" [The Integration of the Individualists: Party Chairmen in the FDP]. In Forkmann, Daniela; Schlieben, Michael (eds.).Die Parteivorsitzenden in der Bundesrepublik Deutschland 1949–2005 [The Party Chairmen of the Federal Republic of Germany 1949–2005]. Göttinger Studien zur Parteiforschung. VS Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften. pp. 151–154.ISBN3-531-14516-9.
Dittberner, Jürgen (2005).Die FDP: Geschichte, Personen, Organisation, Perspektiven ; eine Einführung [The FDP: History, People, Organization, Perspectives; an Introduction] (in German). VS Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften. p. 72.ISBN3-531-14050-7.
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