Gabriele Bischoff (born 4 January 1961) 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 is serving as a

Member of the European Parliament A member of the European Parliament (MEP) is a person who has been Election, 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 S ...

Early life and education

Bischoff graduated from König-Heinrich-Gymnasium in

Fritzlar Fritzlar () is a small town (pop. 15,000) in the Schwalm-Eder-Kreis, Schwalm-Eder district in northern Hesse, Germany, north of Frankfurt, with a storied history. The town has a medieval center ringed by a wall with numerous watch towers. high ...

in 1980. She then began studying

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and Power (social and political), power, and the analysis of political activities, political philosophy, political thought, polit ...

and American studies at the

University of Marburg The Philipps University of Marburg () is a public research university located in Marburg, Germany. It was founded in 1527 by Philip I, Landgrave of Hesse, which makes it one of Germany's oldest universities and the oldest still operating Prote ...

, then moved to 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 ...

, where she graduated with a diploma in political science.

Career

From 1991 until 2000, Bischoff worked at Germany's largest trade union,

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 ...

, on

gender equality Gender equality, also known as sexual equality, gender egalitarianism, or equality of the sexes, is the state of equal ease of access to resources and opportunities regardless of gender, including economic participation and decision-making, an ...

issues. In that capacity, she represented IG Metall in the relevant working groups of the

European Trade Union Confederation The European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) is the major trade union organisation representing workers at the European level. In its role as a European social partner, the ETUC works both in a consulting role with the European Commission and ...

(ETUC). From 2000 to 2005, Bischoff worked as an advisor on social affairs at the Permanent Representation of Germany to the EU in Brussels before moving to the

Federal Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs The Federal Ministry for Labour and Social Affairs (, ; abbreviated BMAS) is a federal ministry of the Federal Republic of Germany headed by the Federal Minister of Labour and Social Affairs as a member of the Cabinet of Germany (). Its first ...

(BMAS) in Berlin as special advisor from 2006 to 2008. From 2008 Bischoff worked for the

German Trade Union Confederation The German Trade Union Confederation (; DGB) is an umbrella organisation (sometimes known as a national trade union center) for eight German trade unions, in total representing more than 6 million people (31 December 2011). It was founded ...

(DGB) in Berlin, where she led the trade union's work on European policies. In that capacity, she was a member of the

European Economic and Social Committee The European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) is a consultative body of the European Union (EU) established in 1958. It is an advisory assembly composed of representatives from employers' organization, employers' associations, workers' unio ...

(EESC) in Brussels from 2009 until 2019. During her tenure, she served as president of the employees' group from 2015.

Political career

Bischoff has been a

since the 2019 European elections. She has since been serving on the

Committee on Constitutional Affairs The Committee on Constitutional Affairs (AFCO) is a committee of the European Parliament dealing with institutional matters such as revisions to the Treaties of the European Union, inter-institutional agreements, and the Parliament's internal rules ...

and the

Committee on Employment and Social Affairs The Committee on Employment and Social Affairs (EMPL) is a Committees of the European Parliament, committee of the European Parliament. It is responsible for issues of employment and social policy, including labour rights, social security, inclusion ...

. She is also a member of the Working Group on the

Conference on the Future of Europe The Conference on the Future of Europe was a proposal of the European Commission and the European Parliament, announced at the end of 2019, with the aim of looking at the medium- to long-term future of the EU and what reforms should be made to ...

. In addition to her committee assignments, Bischoff is part of the Parliament's delegation for relations with Mercosur. She is also a member of the

Spinelli Group The Spinelli Group is an initiative founded with a view to reinvigorate the endeavour for federalisation of the European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic uni ...

the European Parliament Intergroup on Trade Unions and 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 Uni ...

. 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, Bischoff was part of her party's delegation in the working group on European affairs, co-chaired by

Udo Bullmann Udo Bullmann (born 8 June 1956) is a German politician who has been serving as a member of the European Parliament since 1999. He is a member of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD), part of the Party of European Socialists. He has been r ...

Franziska Brantner Franziska Katharina Brantner (born 24 August 1979) is a German politician of the Green Party who has been serving as a member of the German Parliament since 2013. Since 2024, she has also been serving as co-leader of Alliance 90/The Greens, along ...

and

Nicola Beer Nicola Beer (born 23 January 1970) is a German lawyer and politician of the Free Democratic Party (FDP) who has been serving as a vice president of the European Investment Bank since 2024, under the leadership of president Nadia Calviño. Earl ...

. Since 2021, Bischoff has been serving as vice-chair of the S&D Group, under the leadership of chairwoman

Iratxe García Iratxe García Pérez (; born 7 October 1974) is a Spanish politician of the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE). She has served as Member of the European Parliament since 2004, and has served as the Leader of the Progressive Alliance of So ...

. In the negotiations to form a

coalition government A coalition government, or coalition cabinet, is a government by political parties that enter into a power-sharing arrangement of the executive. Coalition governments usually occur when no single party has achieved an absolute majority after an ...

between the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and the SPD under the leadership of

Kai Wegner Kai Wegner (born 15 September 1972) is a German politician of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) who has been serving as Governing Mayor of Berlin since April 2023. He served as a member of the Bundestag, the German federal parliament, from 2 ...

following Berlin’s 2023 state elections, Bischoff was part of her party’s delegation to the working group on European affairs.Ken Münster (7 March 2023)
Koalitionsgespräche ab dieser Woche: Das sind die Verhandler von CDU und SPD in Berlin
''

Der Tagesspiegel (meaning ''The Daily Mirror'') is a German daily newspaper. It has regional correspondent offices in Washington, D.C., and Potsdam. It is the only major newspaper in the capital to have increased its circulation, now 148,000, since reunificati ...

''.

Other activities

* German Cyclist’s Association (ADFC)

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bischoff, Gabriele Living people MEPs for Germany 2019–2024 Social Democratic Party of Germany MEPs 1961 births 21st-century women MEPs for Germany MEPs for Germany 2024–2029