Bärbel Kofler
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Bärbel Kofler (born 24 May 1967) is a German politician 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 Form ...
(SPD) who has been a member of the
Bundestag The Bundestag (, "Federal Diet (assembly), Diet") is the lower house of the Germany, German Federalism in Germany, federal parliament. It is the only constitutional body of the federation directly elected by the German people. The Bundestag wa ...
from the state of
Bavaria Bavaria, officially the Free State of Bavaria, is a States of Germany, state in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the list of German states by area, largest German state by land area, comprising approximately 1/5 of the total l ...
since 2004. In addition to her parliamentary work, Kofler has been serving as
Parliamentary State Secretary A Parliamentary State Secretary (') is a member of the Bundestag given a portfolio to assist a Minister with running a government ministry Ministry or department (also less commonly used secretariat, office, or directorate) are designations us ...
in the
Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development The Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (, ; abbreviated BMZ) is a cabinet-level ministry of the Federal Republic of Germany. Its main office is at the former German Chancellery in Bonn with a second major office at the Eu ...
in the governments of successive
Chancellor Chancellor () is a title of various official positions in the governments of many countries. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the (lattice work screens) of a basilica (court hall), which separa ...
s
Olaf Scholz Olaf Scholz (; born 14 June 1958) is a German politician who served as the Chancellor of Germany from 2021 to 2025. A member of the Social Democratic Party of Germany, Social Democratic Party (SPD), he previously served as Vice-Chancellor of Ge ...
and
Friedrich Merz Joachim-Friedrich Martin Josef Merz (; ; born 11November 1955) is a German politician serving as Chancellor of Germany since 6 May 2025. He has also served as Leader of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) since January 2022, leading the CDU/CSU ...
since 2021. From 2016 until 2021, she served as Federal Government Commissioner for Human Rights Policy and Humanitarian Assistance at the
Federal Foreign Office The Federal Foreign Office (, ; abbreviated AA) is the Foreign minister, foreign ministry of the Federal Republic of Germany, a federal agency (Germany), federal agency responsible for both the country's foreign policy and its relationship with ...
in the
government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a State (polity), state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive (government), execu ...
of
Chancellor Chancellor () is a title of various official positions in the governments of many countries. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the (lattice work screens) of a basilica (court hall), which separa ...
Angela Merkel Angela Dorothea Merkel (; ; born 17 July 1954) is a German retired politician who served as Chancellor of Germany from 2005 to 2021. She is the only woman to have held the office. She was Leader of the Opposition from 2002 to 2005 and Leade ...
.


Political career

On 21 September 2004 Kofler moved to the Bundestag to replace the late Hans Büttner, representing the
Berchtesgadener Land Berchtesgadener Land (Central Bavarian: ''Berchtsgoana Land'') is a ''Landkreis'' (district) in Bavaria, Germany. It is bounded by the district of Traunstein and by the state of Austria. History Middle ages and early modern era The southern a ...
and
Traunstein Traunstein (; ) is a Town#Germany, town in the south-eastern part of Bavaria, Germany, and is the administrative center of a much larger Traunstein (district), district of the same name. The town serves as a local government, retail, health se ...
districts. In parliament, Kofler has been a member of the Committee on Foreign Affairs since 2009. She has also served on the Committee on Economic Cooperation and Development (2005–2016); the Sub-Committee on the United Nations (2006–2009); the
Committee on Human Rights and Humanitarian Aid The Committee on Human Rights and Humanitarian Aid has been a permanent Bundestag committee since its establishment in 1998. Tasks The Bundestag Committee is dedicated to human dignity and human rights. Its agenda includes correcting domestic vio ...
(2004–2005); and the Finance Committee (2004–2005). In addition to her committee assignments, she chaired the German-Ukrainian Parliamentary Friendship Group from 2006 until 2013. Within the SPD parliamentary group, Kofler belongs to the Parliamentary Left, a left-wing movement. In the negotiations to form a ''
Grand Coalition A grand coalition is an arrangement in a multi-party parliamentary system in which the two largest political party, political parties of opposing political spectrum, political ideologies unite in a coalition government. Causes of a grand coali ...
'' of the Christian Democrats (CDU together with the Bavarian
CSU CSU may refer to: Universities and university systems United States * Columbia Southern University, in Orange Beach, Alabama * California State University system * Colorado State University, in Fort Collins, Colorado * Connecticut State Univers ...
) and the SPD under the leadership of
Chancellor Chancellor () is a title of various official positions in the governments of many countries. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the (lattice work screens) of a basilica (court hall), which separa ...
Angela Merkel Angela Dorothea Merkel (; ; born 17 July 1954) is a German retired politician who served as Chancellor of Germany from 2005 to 2021. She is the only woman to have held the office. She was Leader of the Opposition from 2002 to 2005 and Leade ...
following the 2013 elections, Kofler was part of the SPD delegation in the working group on the environment and agriculture, led by
Katherina Reiche Katherina Reiche (born 16 July 1973) is a German manager and politician of the Christian Democratic Union (Germany), Christian Democratic Union (CDU) who has been serving as Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy, Federal Minister fo ...
and Ute Vogt. In similar negotiations following the 2017 federal elections, she was part of the working group on foreign policy, led by
Ursula von der Leyen Ursula Gertrud von der Leyen (; ; born 8 October 1958) is a German politician, serving as president of the European Commission since 2019. She served in the Cabinet of Germany, German federal government between 2005 and 2019, holding position ...
,
Gerd Müller Gerhard "Gerd" Müller (; 3 November 1945 – 15 August 2021) was a German professional association football, footballer. A prolific Forward (association football)#Striker, striker, especially in and around the six-yard box, he is widely regarde ...
and
Sigmar Gabriel Sigmar Hartmut Gabriel (born 12 September 1959) is a German politician who was the Federal Minister for Foreign Affairs from 2017 to 2018 and the vice-chancellor of Germany from 2013 to 2018. He was Leader of the Social Democratic Party of Germa ...
. In the negotiations to form a so-called
traffic light coalition In German politics, a traffic light coalition () is a coalition government of the Social Democratic Party (SPD), the Free Democratic Party (FDP) and Alliance 90/The Greens. It is named after the parties' traditional colours, respectively red, y ...
of the SPD, the
Green Party A green party is a formally organized political party based on the principles of green politics, such as environmentalism and social justice. Green party platforms typically embrace Social democracy, social democratic economic policies and fo ...
and the Free Democratic Party (FDP) following the 2021 federal elections, Kofler was again part of her party's delegation in the working group on foreign policy, defence, development cooperation and human rights, this time co-chaired by
Heiko Maas Heiko Josef Maas (; born 19 September 1966) is a German lawyerMarcus Jung (15 December 2022) ''Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung''. and former politician of the Social Democratic Party of Germany, Social Democratic Party (SPD) who served as the Mini ...
,
Omid Nouripour Omid Nouripour (; ; born 18 June 1975) is a German-Iranian politician who is serving as Vice President of the Bundestag since 2025. A member of Alliance '90/The Greens, he has been serving as a member of the Bundestag since 2006, representing t ...
and Alexander Graf Lambsdorff.


Other activities

* action medeor, Member of the advisory board (since 2016) * Aktion Deutschland Hilft (Germany's Relief Coalition), Member of the Board of Trustees (since 2016) * German Institute for Human Rights (DIMR), Member of the Board of Trustees (since 2016) * Center for International Peace Operations (ZIF), Member of the supervisory board (since 2014) *
German Foundation for World Population DSW () is an international private non-profit foundation addressing Sexual & Reproductive Health (SRH) and population dynamics. DSW funds its project and advocacy work from private donations and the financial support of governments, foundations ...
(DSW), Member of the Parliamentary Advisory Board * IG BCE, Member *
IG Metall IG Metall (; IGM; German: , "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 German labor relations consider i ...
, Member *
German Corporation for International Cooperation German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ger ...
(GIZ), Member of the Board of Trustees (2014–2016)Bärbel Kofler
SPD Parliamentary Group.


References


External links

*
Bundestag biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kofler, Barbel 1967 births Living people Members of the Bundestag for Bavaria Female members of the Bundestag 21st-century German women politicians Members of the Bundestag 2021–2025 Members of the Bundestag 2017–2021 Members of the Bundestag 2013–2017 Members of the Bundestag 2009–2013 Members of the Bundestag 2005–2009 Members of the Bundestag 2002–2005 Members of the Bundestag for the Social Democratic Party of Germany People from Berchtesgadener Land Members of the Bundestag 2025–2029