Tanja Gönner | |
|---|---|
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| State Minister for the Environment of Baden-Württemberg | |
| In office 2005–2011 | |
| Preceded by | Stefan Mappus |
| Succeeded by | Franz Untersteller |
| Member of theBundestag | |
| In office 2002–2004 | |
| Succeeded by | Thomas Bareiß |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1969-07-23)23 July 1969 (age 56) |
| Political party | CDU |
| Alma mater | University of Tübingen |
Tanja Gönner (born 23 July 1969 inSigmaringnen) is a German lawyer and politician of theChristian Democratic Union (CDU) who has been serving as managing director of theFederation of German Industries (BDI), the leading lobby organization ofGerman industry since November 2022.
As a CDU politician, she was a member of theGerman Bundestag from 2002 until her resignation on 13 July 2004, Minister of Social Affairs from 2004 to 2005 andMinister of the Environment from 2005 to 2011, as well as minister of transport for the state ofBaden-Württemberg from 2010 to 2011. From 2012 to 2022, she was spokesperson of the board of theDeutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit.
Gönner has an older sister, a younger sister, and a younger brother. She is Catholic and single. Gönner grew up inBingen near Sigmaringen, where she also attended primary school.[1] After graduating from the Liebfrauenschule Sigmaringen in 1989, Gönner initially trained as a legal clerk, which she completed with a diploma in 1992. In 1993, she studiedlaw at theUniversity of Tübingen,[2] which she completed in 1997 with the first state examination in law. After her legal clerkship and second state examination in 1999, she was admitted to the bar. After completing her studies, Gönner initially worked as an insolvency administrator.[3]
Tanja Gönner joined the CDU in 1987. She initially became involved in the Junge Union, of which she was deputy national chairwoman from 1998 to 2002.[3] From 2002 to 2004 Gönner served as member of the Bundestag, representing theZollernalb – Sigmaringen district.[4] From 2001 to 2013, she was Chairwoman of the Sigmaringen CDU district association and, from 2005, a member of the Baden-Württemberg CDU state executive. From 2006 to the end of 2007, Tanja Gönner was a member of the CDU Basic Programme Commission. In 2007, she became deputy chairwoman of the Commission for the Integrity of Creation. From 2000 to 2012, Gönner was part of the federal executive of the CDU, under leadership of the party's chairwomanAngela Merkel.[5]
After the 2011 state parliamentary elections, in which Minister PresidentStefan Mappus no longer achieved a majority, she was considered a promising candidate for the chairmanship of the Baden-Württemberg CDU; however, after Gönner, who was counted among the closest leadership circle around Mappus,[6] failed in the election for the parliamentary group chairmanship in the state parliament againstPeter Hauk, she withdrew her candidacy.[7] The state CDU was then led byThomas Strobl. Her attempt to succeedAndreas Schockenhoff as CDU district chair for the Württemberg-Hohenzollern district also failed. On 22 October 2011, member of the BundestagThomas Bareiß was elected to this position in a competitive vote.[8][9]
She was a member of the German Bundestag from 2002 until her resignation on 13 July 2004: with 54.1% of the first votes, she was the directly elected member of the Bundestag for theZollernalb – Sigmaringen constituency (constituency 295). After she was appointed minister, she initially did not hold a seat in the Baden-Württemberg state parliament but won the seat for the Sigmaringen state parliamentary constituency in the state parliament elections in March 2011. She resigned from the state parliament on 30 June 2012. She was replaced by Klaus Burger.[1]
In 2004, Gönner was appointed State Minister for Social Affairs in the government ofMinister-PresidentErwin Teufel of Baden-Württemberg. At the same time, she was appointed the state government's commissioner for the disabled. As a result, she was temporarily the youngest member of the Federal Council. In the subsequent governments ofMinisters-PresidentGünther Oettinger andStefan Mappus, she served as State Minister of the Environment from 2005 to 2011. In this capacity, she notably defended the controversialStuttgart 21 infrastructure project.[10]
In the negotiations to form acoalition government following the2009 federal elections, Gönner was part of the working group on the environment, agriculture and consumer protection, led byIlse Aigner andMichael Kauch.[11]
In 2011, news media reported that Gönner was the preferred candidate ofChancellorAngela Merkel to succeed Matthias Kurth as president of theFederal Network Agency for Electricity, Gas, Telecommunications, Posts and Railway (BNetzA);[12] after negotiations, however, Jochen Homann was eventually appointed.
From 2012 to 2022, Gönner served as chair of the board atGIZ.[13]
Since June 2022, Gönner has been serving as managing director of the Federation of German Industries (BDI).[13]
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)| International | |
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