Othmar Karas
Othmar Karas ( born December 24, 1957 in Ybbs an der Donau) is an Austrian politician ( ÖVP) since 2012 and a Vice President of the European Parliament.
Training
Karas received in 1996 at the Vienna University Master's degree phil. at the undergraduate and Integrative Sciences ( Major: Political Science ), so, at the University of St. Gallen 1997, the graduation ceremony for MBL in the area European and international economic law.
He became a member of the Catholic connections K.Ö.St.V. Ötscherland Scheibbs in MKV, the K.Ö.H.V. Singer shaft Waltharia Vienna in ACA and co-founder of the KAV Merkenstein Vienna in EKV.
Political career
Karas began his political career in 1976 as chairman of the Federal Union of Students (now the student union). After that, he was from 1979 to 1981 political officer of the ÖVP. Between 1980 and 1990 he was deputy chairman of the Austrian Federal Youth Council (now the National Youth Council ) as well as federal chairman of the Young People's Party, Member of the Federal Executive and Vice President of the Young European Christian Democrats (now YEPP ). From 1983 to 1990, Karas Member of Parliament. Prior to the occupation of Hainburg wetlands Karas 1984 was one of the participants of the press conference of the animals and entered as a " cormorant " on.
Professionally, he was from 1981 to 1995 as a clerk in the banking and insurance sector, most recently Deputy Secretary-General. the states insurance ( today: UNIQA Insurance AG). Thereafter, until 1999, General Secretary of the People's Party and a member of the Federal Executive.
Since 1999 Member of the European Parliament in 2012, he was Vice President of the European Parliament, 2004-2011 Vice President and Treasurer of the EPP Group, and was from 2006 to 2009 and since 2011 head of the ÖVP delegation in the European Parliament.
Since 1998 he has been President of the Agency Austria. In January 2012, he was elected as one of the 14 Vice-Presidents of the European Parliament and by this time the highest-ranked Austrian in this Parliament.
European Parliament
Since 1999, Karas is a member of the European Parliament. He was from 1999 to 2004 board member and Treasurer of the EPP- ED Group, where he served from 2002 to 2004 as a business speaker and then to 2007 as vice president and treasurer, then. Was the first Vice President and Treasurer By 2009 he was chairman of the club further ÖVP Europe Club and is a member of the Austrian People's Party Federal Executive. On April 5, 2011, Othmar Karas successor of Ernst Strasser, who resigned from his post in the European Parliament because of the lobbying scandal. Karas is a member of the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs and the Committee on Foreign Affairs, Human Rights, Common Security and Defence Policy and alternates to the Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection of the European Parliament. He is also a member of the Delegation for relations with Canada, as well as deputy for relations with Japan. Karas is rapporteur of the following reports:
- Strengthening the EU statistics office Eurostat
- Basel II and revision of the Directive on capital requirements
- Central organization to central institutions, certain own funds items, large exposures, supervisory arrangements, and crisis management.
Other activities
Moreover, he shall exercise the office as President of the Austrian Relief and Works Agency, the Robert Schuman Institute Budapest, as well as Vice President of the Agency Austria International and the Robert Schuman Foundation. He is the initiator and spokesman for the nonpartisan Civic Forum Europe 2020 and a board member of Dr. Kurt Waldheim Foundation. Karas is also a university lecturer at the University of Vienna (Institute of Political Science ).
Family
Karas since 1987 with the lawyer and artist Christa Karas Waldheim, a daughter of the late former president Kurt Waldheim, married and has a son.
Awards
- 2003: Grand Decoration of Honour for Services to the Republic of Austria