Clemens Binninger (born 24 April 1962) is a German politician of the CDU (conservative party). Binninger was 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 2002 until 2017.

Political career

Binninger was first elected in the

2002 elections The following elections occurred in the year 2002. * 2002 Bahraini parliamentary election * 2002 Comorian presidential election * 2002 East Timorese presidential election * 2002 Fijian municipal election * 2002 Hong Kong Chief Executive election * ...

and then re-elected in 2005, 2009 and 2013, representing the electoral district of Böblingen. Before becoming member of the German Parliament, he used to work in police services and also as head of division in the State Ministry of the Interior of Baden-Württemberg. Binninger was a full member of the Committee of Internal Affairs and deputy chairman of the Parliamentary Oversight Panel (PKGr), which provides parliamentary oversight of Germany’s intelligence services BND, BfV and MAD. In April 2014, he briefly served as head of the

German Parliamentary Committee investigating the NSA spying scandal The German Parliamentary Committee investigation of the NSA spying scandal (official title: ''1. Untersuchungsausschuss der 18. Wahlperiode des Deutschen Bundestages'') was started on March 20, 2014, by the German Parliament in order to investig ...

but stepped down after six days. He was also a member of the German-Israeli Parliamentary Friendship Group. In addition, Binninger is a member of the International Police Association (IPA) and the German-American-center/James F. Byrnes Institute Stuttgart. He was rewarded for special accomplishments in constitutional law. In September 2016, Binninger announced that he would not stand in the 2017 federal elections but instead resign from active politics by the end of the parliamentary term.

Political positions

When German

Interior Minister An interior minister (sometimes called a minister of internal affairs or minister of home affairs) is a Cabinet (government), cabinet official position that is responsible for internal affairs, such as public security, civil registration and iden ...

Wolfgang Schäuble Wolfgang Schäuble (; 18 September 1942 – 26 December 2023) was a German politician whose political career spanned more than five decades. A member of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), he was the longest-serving member of any democratic G ...

announced plans in 2008 to set up a central communications monitoring agency in

Cologne Cologne ( ; ; ) is the largest city of the States of Germany, German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with nearly 1.1 million inhabitants in the city pr ...

for use by the police and intelligence agencies, modeled after the US's

NSA The National Security Agency (NSA) is an intelligence agency of the United States Department of Defense, under the authority of the director of national intelligence (DNI). The NSA is responsible for global monitoring, collection, and proces ...

and the UK's

GCHQ Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) is an intelligence and security organisation responsible for providing signals intelligence (SIGINT) and information assurance (IA) to the government and armed forces of the United Kingdom. Primar ...

, Binninger publicly expressed his support for the proposal, calling it "an ideal concentration of know-how." In late 2016, Binninger was one of the driving forces behind a long-delayed reform package for Germany's BND, allowing for interception of communications of foreign entities and individuals on German soil and abroad which pass through the

Deutscher Commercial Internet Exchange DE-CIX (Deutsche Commercial Internet Exchange) is an operator of carrier- and data-center-neutral Internet exchanges (IXs), with operations in Europe, North America, Africa, the Middle East, India and Southeast Asia. All DE-CIX activities and com ...

(DE-CIX) in Frankfurt. In April 2014, the Left Party and the Greens sought to petition for a

subpoena A subpoena (; also subpœna, supenna or subpena) or witness summons is a writ issued by a government agency, most often a court, to compel testimony by a witness or production of evidence under a penalty for failure. There are two common types of ...

Edward Snowden Edward Joseph Snowden (born June 21, 1983) is a former National Security Agency (NSA) intelligence contractor and whistleblower who leaked classified documents revealing the existence of global surveillance programs. Born in 1983 in Elizabeth ...

in the very first session of the

, but Binninger's CDU/CSU parliamentary group rejected the move. Indeed, Binninger unexpectedly resigned in response, saying that he stepped down to protest opposition efforts to turn the committee into a "Snowden circus." In his statement, Binninger said that Snowden was not of particular interest as a witness.

Life after politics

After leaving active politics, Binninger and his wife Ulrike founded Binninger & Binninger, a consulting firm. In addition, he has been serving affiliate of the Digital Society Institute (DSI) at the

European School of Management and Technology The European School of Management and Technology, also known as ESMT Berlin, is a private non-profit business school based in Berlin, Germany. The business school was founded in 2002 by 25 companies and institutions and offers a range of Master o ...

.New affiliate Clemens Binninger supports Digital Society Institute

, press release of February 1, 2018.

Other activities

* Research Forum on Public Safety at the

Free University of Berlin The Free University of Berlin (, often abbreviated as FU Berlin or simply FU) is a public university, public research university in Berlin, Germany. It was founded in West Berlin in 1948 with American support during the early Cold War period a ...

, Member of the Steering Committee * Federal Agency for Technical Relief (THW), Baden-Württemberg chapter, President (2006-2015) *

International Police Association The International Police Association (IPA) is a worldwide fraternal police organization. The IPA operates as a non-governmental organization, Non-Governmental Organization open to active duty or retired members of the Police, police force. M ...

(IPA), Member * German European Security Association (GESA), Member of the Executive Board (2009–2013) *

Federal Academy for Security Policy The Federal Academy for Security Policy (, BAKS) is the Federal Republic of Germany’s interministerial institution for advanced studies, education and training in security policy in the remit of the Federal Ministry of Defence. It has its seat i ...

(BAKS), Member of the Advisory Board (2005–2012)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Binninger, Clemens 1962 births Living people People from Waldshut (district) Members of the Bundestag for Baden-Württemberg 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 Christian Democratic Union of Germany