Elmar Brok
Elmar Brok Henry ( born May 14, 1946 in Verl ) is a German politician ( CDU). He is since 2012 Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the European Parliament. He has held this office from 1999 to 2007.
Life
Education and work
After graduation in 1966 at the Gymnasium in Paderborn Theodorianum Brok studied not finish law and political science at the University of Edinburgh. After a broadcast internship he worked as a radio and newspaper journalist. Later Brok was Commissioner for Europe of the Board of Bertelsmann AG, where he was from 2004 to 2011 Senior Vice President of Media Development.
Party race
Brok first became involved in the Youth Union and was from 1973 to 1981 the Deputy National Chairman. He belongs since 1994 to the state board of the CDU in North Rhine -Westphalia and since 2004 the CDU Federal Board. From 1996 to June 23, 2012 Brok was chairman of the CDU district association of East Westphalia -Lippe. His successor there is Steffen Kampeter. Since 1989, Brok leads the CDU Federal Committee on Foreign, Security and European Policy.
Brok 's foreign policy coordinator of the European People's Party ( EPP) and a member of the EPP bureau.
After 1993 to 2002 he was first vice-president, Mr Brok is since 2002 President of the European Union of Christian Democratic Workers ( EUCDA ).
Deputies activity
Since 1980, Brok is a member of the European Parliament. He is a member of the Foreign Affairs Committee, substitute member of the Committee on Constitutional Affairs and substitute member of the European Affairs Committee of the German Bundestag.
Since the 2009 European election was Elmar Brok, foreign policy spokesman of the EPP Group and member of the EPP Group Executive Board. Elmar Brok was chairman of the Parliamentary Delegation to the U.S. Congress, and he is chairman of the steering committee ( " Steering Committee" ) of the " Transatlantic Legislators ' Dialogue'. Since 2012, Elmar Brok is a member of the Delegation to the People's Republic of China.
From 1999 to 2008 he was chairman of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, Human Rights, Common Security and Defence Policy. Since 2012 he has held this office again.
Brok was as a representative of the European Parliament involved in the intergovernmental conferences for the Treaty of Maastricht (1994/1995), the Treaty of Amsterdam (1996/1997), the Treaty of Nice (2000), the EU Constitutional Treaty (2003/ 2004) and the Treaty of Lisbon ( 2007). 2001-2002 Brok was Chairman of the EPP Group in the Convention for the Constitution of the European Union.
From 1999 to 2007, Brok Rapporteur for the enlargement of the European Union. Brok is a member of the CDU Federal Board and Chairman of the CDU Federal Committee on Foreign, Security and European Policy.
In September 2010, he was involved in the founding of the Spinelli Group, which campaigns for the European federalism.
Brok is a member of the European Union Parliamentarians European Parliament. He is a member of the Parliamentary Working Group of the initiative A Soul for Europe.
Others commitment
From 1999 to 2006, Brok President of the European Union, Germany. Peter Altmaier was elected on December 10, 2006 to be his successor and Brok himself honorary president. Furthermore, Brok Deputy Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Institute for European Politics ( IEP), Co - Chairman of the German - Hungarian Forum, Member of the Board of the German Society for Foreign Policy and a member of the board of trustees of the Development and Peace Foundation (SEF ).
At the local level, he is Chairman of the Board of Trustees of St. Hedwig folk high school and sits as a member of the Foundation Board of the Marie Sciences Bielefeld.
Since 2010 he is the godfather of the children's hospice for terminally ill children Bethel
Attacks of the organization " Femen "
As Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the European Parliament Brok visited Kiev in December 2012. During this visit, he also strove for the detained politician Yulia Tymoshenko. In this context, it has been reported in several Ukrainian media, Brok had during his visit to Kiev visited a brothel and spoke disparagingly of Ukrainian women. On March 14, 2013 in Brussels Brok was attacked in this context of an activist of the Ukrainian feminist group Femen, beaten and verbally abused. Brok has denied the charges against him. The accusations were baseless and part of a campaign of the Ukrainian government party Party of Regions, Femen himself had been eating a disinformation and was being used against him. The EU's Embassy in Ukraine described the allegations against Brok as "nonsense " and condemned the attack on him. Also, the Ukrainian Prime Minister Mykola Azarov apologized to Brok, described the action as a smear campaign and denied any involvement of his government.
Mediation activities in the Ukraine during the Euromaidan
In his capacity as Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the European Parliament Brok was repeatedly act as a mediator in Kiev during the critical developments in Ukraine since November 2013 ( " Euromaidan "). Brok in this context in favor of the EU financial assistance for Ukraine to a constitutional amendment and electoral reform to socialize. The power of the Ukrainian Parliament should be strengthened and that the President be weakened. Also, the right to vote in Ukraine must be revised, otherwise the risk of re- election fraud was too big. In an interview Brok said on February 7, 2014, in his opinion, was Vitali Klitschko " the appropriate State President " and Yatsenyuk " the ideal prime minister" for Ukraine. The role of the extreme right party Swoboda he described in a statement over the ARD Panorama magazine than a party that had at least contributed significantly with to overthrow a dictator, and which, regardless of their past, now also for the rule of law in Ukraine may establish.
Lobbyism
Brok was accused in 2001 by the journalist Peter Mühlbauer, to represent the interests of his employer Bertelsmann. Thus it is claimed that he had been instrumental in the realization of the EU Copyright Directive, which strengthens the position of the media company Bertelsmann, according to one manager. Another allegation is in the draft Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe for Europe Brok had prevailed, that the right to " intellectual property" has been set absolutely in the draft constitution and no social obligation is subject ( Art.II - 77, paragraph 2). The constitutional lawyer Hans Herbert von Arnim designated Brok activity several times as a "legal corruption ".
Brok explains that he has always given his professional career public and transparent about the rules of the EP out, and such alleged influence not made.
His claim that he separate mandate and private business interests " razor sharp ", was doubted by Brussels correspondent, got leaked internal Bertelsmann papers of 1994. There were allegations of that he had used his connections in order to prevent a permanent freelancer for the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Hajo Friedrich, who had reported critically about it to future reporting. To this end, Brok phoned FAZ publisher Günther Nonnenmacher. After Nonnenmacher had then spoken to the Brussels office FAZ, Frederick would not be allowed to write for the political section, as he had previously done occasionally. Nonnenmacher and Brok deny this but.
Elmar Brok, has resigned his position as Senior Vice President of Media Development at Bertelsmann AG of 31 May 2011.
Private
Elmar Brok is married, has three children and lives with his family in Bielefeld.
Honors
Brok the Federal Cross of Merit (2009), the Great Golden Medal of Honour for Services to the Republic of Austria, the Order of Merit " Grand Officer of Luxembourg ", 2005, the Commander's Cross of Merit of Lithuania as well as the Estonian Cross of Merit were awarded Second Class of the Order of Terra Mariana. On May 24, 2013 Brok was the medal for European Communication State Pedagogical Dragomanov University (Kiev / Ukraine) awarded.
2007 appointed him the tobacco for pipe smokers forum of the year.
In March Brok received the rights conferred by the Association for Environment and Nature Protection in the District of Herford negative price " Rusty garden shears " for his opposition to the National Park project in the region and for its "lack of responsibility" for the protection of species. Brok accepted the award personally.