Ronald Pofalla
Ronald Pofalla | |||||||||||||||||||||||
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Head of the Chancellery Minister for Special Affairs | |||||||||||||||||||||||
In office 28 October 2009 – 17 December 2013 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Chancellor | Angela Merkel | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Preceded by | Thomas de Maizière | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Succeeded by | Peter Altmaier | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Commissioner for the Federal Intelligence Services | |||||||||||||||||||||||
In office 28 October 2009 – 17 December 2013 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Chancellor | Angela Merkel | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Coordinator | Günter Heiß | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Preceded by | Thomas de Maizière | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Succeeded by | Peter Altmaier | ||||||||||||||||||||||
General Secretary of the Christian Democratic Union | |||||||||||||||||||||||
In office 5 December 2005 – 28 October 2009 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Leader | Angela Merkel | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Preceded by | Volker Kauder | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Succeeded by | Hermann Gröhe | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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Personal details | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Born | Weeze, North Rhine-Westphalia, West Germany (now Germany) | 15 May 1959||||||||||||||||||||||
Political party | Christian Democratic Union (1975–) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Spouse |
Nina Hebisch (m. 2016) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Children | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Alma mater | University of Cologne | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Occupation |
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Website | ronald-pofalla | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Ronald Pofalla (born 15 May 1959) is a German lawyer and politician of the
Early life and education
Pofalla studied social pedagogy at the Fachhochschule in Kleve. After finishing with a Diplom in 1981 he studied law at the University of Cologne. In 1991 he passed the second Staatsexamen. Since that time Pofalla has been licensed to work as a lawyer.
Political career
Early beginnings
Pofalla has been a member of the
Member of the German Parliament, 1990–2014
During his time in parliament, Pofalla served on the Committee for the Scrutiny of Elections, Immunity and the Rules of Procedure, the Committee on Legal Affairs, the Committee on Labour and Social Affairs and the Committee on Economic Affairs and Technology.
From 2004 to 2005 Pofalla was deputy chairman of the
Chief of Staff to the Chancellor, 2009–2013
After the elections, Pofalla succeeded
In the negotiations to form a coalition government following the 2013 federal elections, Pofalla was part of the 15-member leadership circle chaired by Merkel, Horst Seehofer and Sigmar Gabriel. As part of a cabinet reshuffle, he subsequently resigned as head of the Federal Chancellery.[3]
Career in the private sector
In January 2014 it was reported that Pofalla would be joining the management of Deutsche Bahn, the state-owned national rail network of Germany. He had previously worked for the company's subsidiary DB Netz between 2005 and 2009.
At Deutsche Bahn, Pofalla took up a "specially created lobbying post" said to carry compensation of more than a million euros a year.[4] His successor in the Bundestag is Thorsten Hoffmann.
After transitioning to the private sector, Pofalla was made co-chairman of the Petersburg Dialogue, a semiofficial German-Russian symposium.[5] From 2018 until 2019, he also served on the German government's so-called coal commission, which was tasked to develop a masterplan before the end of the year on how to phase-out coal and create a new economic perspective for the country's coal-mining regions.[6]
In 2022, Pofalla was appointed to the managing board of real estate developer Gröner Group.[7]
In April 2023, Pofalla was one of the 22 personal guests at the ceremony in which Angela Merkel was decorated with the
Other activities
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b9/Ronald_Pofalla.jpg/220px-Ronald_Pofalla.jpg)
Corporate boards
- DEVK Rückversicherungs- und Beteiligungs-Aktiengesellschaft, Member of the supervisory board (since 2016)[9]
- Sparda-Bank, Member of the Advisory Board
- KfW, Member of the supervisory board (2002-2006)
Non-profit organizations
- Bonner Akademie für Forschung und Lehre praktischer Politik (BAPP), Member of the Board of Trustees[10]
- Zollverein Coal Mine Industrial Complex, Member of the Board of Trustees (since 2018)[11]
- Jewish Museum Berlin, Member of the Board of Trustees[12]
- German Institute for International and Security Affairs (SWP), vice-president of the council (2009-2013)
- Rhine-Waal University of Applied Sciences, Member of the Presidium (2009-2013)
- Konrad Adenauer Foundation, Member of the Board (2005-2009)
- ZDF, Member of the Television Board (2005-2009)
Political positions
During his time in politics, Pofalla took an active interest in
In the context of the Ukraine crisis, Pofalla has commented that "it wasn’t clever of Barack Obama to have downgraded Russia, in connection with the Ukraine conflict, to the level of a regional power."[14]
Controversy
Pofalla caused controversy when German tabloid Bild revealed that he had bought premium Montblanc writing materials worth 3,307.61 euros for his MP office at the expense of the Bundestag in 2009; at the time, it was the highest recorded order by any parliamentarian.[15]
References
- ^ Markus Balser (1 March 2022), Ex-Politiker: Ronald Pofalla gibt bei der Bahn auf Süddeutsche Zeitung.
- ^ "Merkel Ally Under Fire for Profanity-Ridden Tirade". Der Spiegel.
- ^ Stefan Wagstyl (14 December 2013), Germany’s SPD backs coalition with Merkel’s CDU Financial Times.
- ^ "German Politician's Rush to Lobbying Brings Scorn". New York Times. 3 January 2014.
- Wall Street Journal.
- S&P Global Platts.
- ^ Nele Husmann (1 May 2022), Immobilienentwickler Gröner: „Wahrer Reichtum hat nichts mit Geld zu tun“ Wirtschaftswoche.
- ^ Kati Degenhardt (17 April 2023), Merkels emotionaler Dank: "Er hatte Vieles auszuhalten" T-Online.
- ^ 2016 Annual Report DEVK Rückversicherungs- und Beteiligungs-Aktiengesellschaft.
- ^ Board of Trustees Bonner Akademie für Forschung und Lehre praktischer Politik (BAPP).
- ^ Members of the Board of Trustees, 2018 Zollverein Coal Mine Industrial Complex.
- Jewish Museum Berlin.
- ^ Luke Harding and Yuras Karmanau (18 March 2013), EU outraged after Belarus executes two men accused of Metro bombing The Guardian.
- Wall Street Journal.
- ^ Kate Brady (25 August 2016), German MPs expenses to be reconsidered following stationery scandal Deutsche Welle.
External links
Media related to Ronald Pofalla at Wikimedia Commons
- Ronald Pofalla's website
- Sustainable Development