Birgit Sippel (born 29 January 1960) is a German politician who has been serving as a

Member of the European Parliament A Member of the European Parliament (MEP) is a person who has been elected to serve as a popular representative in the European Parliament. When the European Parliament (then known as the Common Assembly of the European Coal and Steel Commu ...

(MEP) since 2009. She is a member of the

Social Democratic Party The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology. Active parties Fo ...

, part of the

Party of European Socialists The Party of European Socialists (PES) is a Social democracy, social democratic and Progressivism, progressive European political party. The PES comprises national-level political parties from all member states of the European Union (EU) plus ...

Political career

Beginnings

In 1982, Sippel joined the Socialist Youth of Germany "Die Falken", belonging to the

International Falcon Movement International is an adjective (also used as a noun) meaning "between nations". International may also refer to: Music Albums * ''International'' (Kevin Michael album), 2011 * ''International'' (New Order album), 2002 * ''International'' (The T ...

, and was engaged up to the district level. That same year, she also joined the Social-Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) and was soon involved in the local party branch in Neheim. In 1983, she also joined the German Industrial Union of Metalworkers (

IG Metall IG Metall (; IGM; German: ''Industriegewerkschaft Metall'', "Industrial Union of Metalworkers'") is the dominant metalworkers' union in Germany, making it the country's largest union as well as Europe's largest industrial union. Analysts of Ge ...

), in which she served i. a. as employee representative. From 1994 to 2004, she served as member of the city council of

Arnsberg Arnsberg (; wep, Arensperg) is a town in the Hochsauerland county, in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. It is the location of the Regierungsbezirk Arnsberg administration and one of the three local administration offices of the Ho ...

for the

SPD The Social Democratic Party of Germany (german: Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands, ; SPD, ) is a centre-left social democratic political party in Germany. It is one of the major parties of contemporary Germany. Saskia Esken has been the ...

. Apart from her commitment at local level, Sippel was member of the

's National Council from 1996 to 2010 and, since 2010, has been member of the party's council and presidium in the

federal state A federation (also known as a federal state) is a political entity characterized by a union of partially self-governing provinces, states, or other regions under a central federal government (federalism). In a federation, the self-governi ...

North Rhine-Westfalia North Rhine-Westphalia (german: Nordrhein-Westfalen, ; li, Noordrien-Wesfale ; nds, Noordrhien-Westfalen; ksh, Noodrhing-Wäßßfaale), commonly shortened to NRW (), is a state (''Land'') in Western Germany. With more than 18 million inhabi ...

under the leadership of chairwoman

Hannelore Kraft Hannelore Kraft (''née'' Külzhammer; born 12 June 1961) is a German politician. She served as the Minister President of North Rhine-Westphalia from 2010 until 2017. Kraft was the first woman to serve as head of government of this state and was ...

Member of the European Parliament, 2009–present

In the

European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it adop ...

, Sippel has been a full member in the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (LIBE), in which she has taken over the office of coordinator of the S&D Group after her re-election in 2014. Furthermore, she is a substitute member in the Committee on Employment and Social Affairs (EMPL) and a member of the Delegation for relations with the

Mashreq The Mashriq ( ar, ٱلْمَشْرِق), sometimes spelled Mashreq or Mashrek, is a term used by Arabs to refer to the eastern part of the Arab world, located in Western Asia and eastern North Africa. Poetically the "Place of Sunrise", the n ...

countries. On the LIBE committee, Sippel has been involved in diverse topics, touching upon questions of

privacy Privacy (, ) is the ability of an individual or group to seclude themselves or information about themselves, and thereby express themselves selectively. The domain of privacy partially overlaps with security, which can include the concepts of a ...

and

data protection Information privacy is the relationship between the collection and dissemination of data, technology, the public expectation of privacy, contextual information norms, and the legal and political issues surrounding them. It is also known as da ...

(e.g. Terrorist Finance Tracking Program, Passenger Name Record data (PNR)) but also upon issues like the EU asylum policy, migration and the

Schengen area The Schengen Area ( , ) is an area comprising 27 European countries that have officially abolished all passport and all other types of border control at their mutual borders. Being an element within the wider area of freedom, security and ...

. In 2020, she became the parliament's

rapporteur A rapporteur is a person who is appointed by an organization to report on the proceedings of its meetings. The term is a French-derived word. For example, Dick Marty was appointed ''rapporteur'' by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Eur ...

on legislation combatting child sexual abuse online. Moreover, she has been involved in the advancement of police and judicial cooperation at EU level (Area of Freedom, Security and Justice), e.g. by supporting the adoption of several directives on procedural safeguards. EMPL topics such as

public procurement Government procurement or public procurement is the procurement of goods, services and works on behalf of a public authority, such as a government agency. Amounting to 12 percent of global GDP in 2018, government procurement accounts for a sub ...

, the

Working Time Directive Working Time Directive''2003/88/ECis a European Union law Directive (European Union), Directive and a key part of European labour law. It gives EU workers the right to: *at least 28 days (four weeks) in paid holidays each year, *rest breaks of ...

or the Posted Workers Directive have made up additional parts of her daily work. In addition to her committee assignments, Sippel is a member of the

European Parliament Intergroup on LGBT Rights The European Parliament Intergroup on LGBTI Rights is an intergroup of the European Parliament's legislators which focuses on the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) persons both inside and outside the European Union ...

and the European Parliament Intergroup on

Western Sahara Western Sahara ( '; ; ) is a disputed territory on the northwest coast and in the Maghreb region of North and West Africa. About 20% of the territory is controlled by the self-proclaimed Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR), while ...

.Members
European Parliament Intergroup on Western Sahara.

Other activities

Fair Trials International Fair Trials is a UK-registered non-governmental organization which works for fair trials according to international standards of justice and the right to a fair trial, identifying where criminal justice is failing, alerting the world to the prob ...

, Patron * St. Maria zur Wiese, Member of the Board of Trustees *

, Member

References

External links

Official Website Birgit Sippel

Profile Birgit Sippel at the Website of SPD MEPs

Profile Birgit Sippel at S&D Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sippel, Birgit 1960 births Living people Social Democratic Party of Germany MEPs MEPs for Germany 2009–2014 MEPs for Germany 2014–2019 MEPs for Germany 2019–2024 People from Bochum 21st-century women MEPs for Germany