Manuela Ripa (born 1976) is a German lawyer and politician of the Ecological-Democratic Party, ÖDP. Since 16 July 2020, she has been a member of the

European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the two 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 ...

. After her reelection in 2024 she switched from the group of the

Greens–European Free Alliance The Greens/European Free Alliance (Greens/EFA) is a political group of the European Parliament composed primarily of Green politics, green political parties. The group consists of European Green Party (EGP), part of the European Free Allianc ...

to that of the

European People's Party Group The European People's Party Group (EPP Group or simply EPP) is a political group of the European Parliament consisting of deputies (MEPs) from the member parties of the European People's Party (EPP). Sometimes it also includes independent ME ...

Biography

Studies and career

Ripa was born and grew up in

Saarbrücken Saarbrücken (; Rhenish Franconian: ''Sabrigge'' ; ; ; ; ) is the capital and largest List of cities and towns in Germany, city of the state of Saarland, Germany. Saarbrücken has 181,959 inhabitants and is Saarland's administrative, commerci ...

and received her high-school-diploma from the

Grammar School A grammar school is one of several different types of school in the history of education in the United Kingdom and other English-speaking countries, originally a Latin school, school teaching Latin, but more recently an academically oriented Se ...

in Rotenbühl. Following a one-year language study in

Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...

and

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, she studied law at

Saarland University Saarland University (, ) is a public research university located in Saarbrücken, the capital of the German state of Saarland. It was founded in 1948 in Homburg in co-operation with France and is organized in six faculties that cover all major ...

, where she completed her first state examination in law. She completed her legal clerkship as well as her second state examination in law in

North Rhine-Westphalia North Rhine-Westphalia or North-Rhine/Westphalia, commonly shortened to NRW, is a States of Germany, state () in Old states of Germany, Western Germany. With more than 18 million inhabitants, it is the List of German states by population, most ...

. During her legal clerkship, she held positions at the state chancellery of North Rhine-Westphalia in

Düsseldorf Düsseldorf is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second-largest city in the state after Cologne and the List of cities in Germany with more than 100,000 inhabitants, seventh-largest city ...

in the department for international relations as well as at the

European Commission The European Commission (EC) is the primary Executive (government), executive arm of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with a number of European Commissioner, members of the Commission (directorial system, informall ...

Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...

in the Directorate-General for External Relations, Multilateral Relations and Human Rights. She gained practical experience also at the Policy Planning Staff of the

German Foreign Office The Federal Foreign Office (, ; abbreviated AA) is the foreign ministry of the Federal Republic of Germany, a federal agency responsible for both the country's foreign policy and its relationship with the European Union. It is a cabinet-leve ...

and the

European Court of Justice The European Court of Justice (ECJ), officially the Court of Justice (), is the supreme court of the European Union in matters of European Union law. As a part of the Court of Justice of the European Union, it is tasked with interpreting ...

Luxembourg Luxembourg, officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, is a landlocked country in Western Europe. It is bordered by Belgium to the west and north, Germany to the east, and France on the south. Its capital and most populous city, Luxembour ...

. From 2006 to 2009 she worked as an assistant at the European Parliament, responsible for the Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development and the Committee on Budgetary Control. In 2010, she joined the

Federal Ministry of Health (Germany) The Federal Ministry of Health (, ; abbreviated BMG) is a cabinet-level ministry of the Federal Republic of Germany. It is the highest German federal government department responsible for health. The ministry is officially located in Bonn and wi ...

as the personal assistant to the minister. From 2011 to 2020, she was an advisor at the Representation of the German State of

Saarland Saarland (, ; ) is a state of Germany in the southwest of the country. With an area of and population of 990,509 in 2018, it is the smallest German state in area apart from the city-states of Berlin, Bremen, and Hamburg, and the smallest in ...

to the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

, working on the topics of Energy, Agriculture, Environment, Health and Regional Development. At the

2019 European Parliament election The 2019 European Parliament election was held in the European Union (EU) between 23 and 26 May 2019. It was the ninth parliamentary election since the first direct elections in 1979. A total of 751 Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) we ...

, she ran in second place of the list of the Ecological-Democratic Party (ÖDP).

Member of the European Parliament

On July 16, 2020, Ripa succeeded the outgoing MEP

Klaus Buchner Klaus Buchner (born 6 February 1941) is a German university professor, physicist, and an MEP for the green-conservative Ecological Democratic Party (ÖDP). He has represented the European Parliament Germany constituency from 2014 until July ...

in the group of the

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 ...

. In that legislative period she has been a member in the committee on industry, research and energy, the special committee on beating cancer, and the intergroup on animal welfare and conservation of animals. Moreover, she has been a substitute member in the committee on international trade and the committee on environment, public health and food safety. In addition to this, she is a substitute member in the delegations for relations with

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

and

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

. She has also been a member of SEDE. On October 30, 2023, Ripa was nominated as the lead candidate of the ÖDP for the 2024 European elections at an election meeting in Würzburg. In the European elections on June 9, 2024, the ÖDP achieved 0.6% and thus one seat. Ripa was re-elected. Shortly after the election, she switched to the

. Ripa is now member in the committee on culture and education and the delegation for relations with

Mercosur The Southern Common Market (commonly known by abbreviation ''Mercosur'' in Spanish and ''Mercosul'' in Portuguese) is a South American trade bloc established by the Treaty of Asunción in 1991 and Protocol of Ouro Preto in 1994. Its full me ...

. She is also a substitute member in the committee on the environment, public health and food safety, the committee on women’s rights and gender equality, the subcommittee on public health and the delegation to the

CARIFORUM The Caribbean Forum (CARIFORUM) is a subgroup of the Organisation of African, Caribbean and Pacific States and serves as a base for economic dialogue with the European Union. It was established in 1992. Its membership comprises the 15 Caribbean C ...

-EU parliamentary committee. In her work as Member of the European Parliament, Ripa does work on her core-themes in environment protection, climate protection, biodiversity protection, animal welfare and consumer protection.

Other activities

Ripa is the main initiator and spokesperson for the

European Citizens' Initiative The European Citizens' Initiative (ECI) is a European Union (EU) mechanism aimed at increasing direct democracy by enabling "EU citizens to participate directly in the development of EU policies", introduced with the Treaty of Lisbon in 2007. T ...

"Save the bees! Protection of biodiversity and improvements of habitats for insects in Europe", which succeeds the Bavarian public campaign "Save the bees!". The European Citizens' Initiative "Save the bees! Protection of biodiversity and improvements of habitats for insects in Europe" joined forces with the European Citizens' Initiative "Save Bees and Farmers".

Private life

Ripa lives between Saarbrücken and Brussels, is married and the mother of two children.

External links

Homepage

Manuela Ripa on Twitter

Manuela Ripa on Facebook
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Save Bees and Farmers
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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ripa, Manuela Politicians from Saarbrücken 1976 births Living people Saarland University alumni Ecological Democratic Party politicians MEPs for Germany 2019–2024 MEPs for Germany 2024–2029