Peter Liese (born 20 May 1965) is a

German 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 Ge ...

physician A physician, medical practitioner (British English), medical doctor, or simply doctor is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through the Medical education, study, Med ...

and

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

who has been 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 ...

since 1994. He is a member of the Christian Democratic Union, part of the

European People's Party The European People's Party (EPP) is a European political party with Christian democracy, Christian democratic, liberal conservatism, liberal-conservative, and conservative member parties. A transnational organisation, it is composed of other p ...

Education

* 1991: Second state examination in

medicine Medicine is the science and Praxis (process), practice of caring for patients, managing the Medical diagnosis, diagnosis, prognosis, Preventive medicine, prevention, therapy, treatment, Palliative care, palliation of their injury or disease, ...

* 1989–1992: Graduated as doctor at the Institute of Humane Genetics of the

University of Bonn The University of Bonn, officially the Rhenish Friedrich Wilhelm University of Bonn (), is a public research university in Bonn, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It was founded in its present form as the () on 18 October 1818 by Frederick Willi ...

Early career

* until 1994: Ward

doctor Doctor, Doctors, The Doctor or The Doctors may refer to: Titles and occupations * Physician, a medical practitioner * Doctor (title), an academic title for the holder of a doctoral-level degree ** Doctorate ** List of doctoral degrees awarded b ...

Paderborn Paderborn (; Westphalian language, Westphalian: ''Patterbuorn'', also ''Paterboärn'') is a city in eastern North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, capital of the Paderborn (district), Paderborn district. The name of the city derives from the river Pade ...

children's hospital * since 1994:

Doctor Doctor, Doctors, The Doctor or The Doctors may refer to: Titles and occupations * Physician, a medical practitioner * Doctor (title), an academic title for the holder of a doctoral-level degree ** Doctorate ** List of doctoral degrees awarded b ...

general A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air force, air and space forces, marines or naval infantry. In some usages, the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colone ...

practice and internist

Political career

Career in state politics

* Former member of the Land executive of the Young Union,

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 ...

* 1991-1997: District Chairman of the Junge Union * Member of the Land executive of the CDU,

* 1989-1994: Member of Bestwig local council

Member of the European Parliament, 1994–present

Liese sits on 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 ...

's Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety, where he serves as 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 ...

’s coordinator. In this capacity, he was responsible for writing reports on including aviation within the

European Union Emission Trading Scheme The European Union Emissions Trading System (EU ETS) is a carbon emission trading scheme (or ''cap and trade'' scheme) that began in 2005 and is intended to lower greenhouse gas emissions in the EU. Cap and trade schemes limit emissions of spec ...

(2007) and an ETS reform (2021). In 2020, he also joined the Special Committee on Beating Cancer. Between 2000 and 2001, he served on the European Parliament’s Temporary Committee on Human Genetics and Other New Technologies in Modern Medicine. Liese is a substitute for the

Committee on Industry, Research and Energy A committee or commission is a body of one or more persons subordinate to a deliberative assembly or other form of organization. A committee may not itself be considered to be a form of assembly or a decision-making body. Usually, an assembly o ...

, a member of the Delegation for relations with the countries of Central America and a substitute for the Delegation to the EU-

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

Joint Parliamentary Committee. He was part of the Parliament's delegations to the

2008 United Nations Climate Change Conference The 2008 United Nations Climate Change Conference took place at PIF Congress Centre, Poznań International Fair (PIF), in Poznań, Poland, between December 1 and December 12, 2008. Representatives from over 180 countries attended along with obse ...

Poznań Poznań ( ) is a city on the Warta, River Warta in west Poland, within the Greater Poland region. The city is an important cultural and business center and one of Poland's most populous regions with many regional customs such as Saint John's ...

, to the

2013 United Nations Climate Change Conference Background The United Nations Climate Change Conference, COP19 or CMP9 was held in Warsaw, Poland from 11 to 23 November 2013. This is the 19th yearly session of the Conference of the Parties (COP 19) to the 1992 United Nations Framework Conv ...

Warsaw Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at ...

and to the

2016 United Nations Climate Change Conference The 2016 United Nations Climate Change Conference was an international meeting of political leaders and activists to discuss environmental issues. It was held in Marrakech, Morocco, on 7–18 November 2016. The conference incorporated the twe ...

Marrakesh Marrakesh or Marrakech (; , ) is the fourth-largest city in Morocco. It is one of the four imperial cities of Morocco and is the capital of the Marrakesh–Safi Regions of Morocco, region. The city lies west of the foothills of the Atlas Mounta ...

. In addition, Liese serves as member of the European Parliament Intergroup on the Welfare and Conservation of Animals and of the European Parliament Intergroup on Biodiversity, Countryside, Hunting and Recreational Fisheries. Previously, he was a member of the European Parliament Intergroup on Active Ageing and Intergenerational Solidarity. In 2014, he supported

Françoise Grossetête Françoise Grossetête (born 17 May 1946) is a French politician who served as Member of the European Parliament for the South-East of France from 1994 until 2019. She is a member of The Republicans; part of the European People's Party. Early l ...

’s proposal to establish a European Parliament Intergroup on Health for Citizens, including stakeholders such as the European Cancer Patients Association and the Organisation for European Cancer Institutes. Liese has also been chairing the EPP Health Ministers Meeting (alongside

Stella Kyriakides Stella Kyriakides (, ; born 10 March 1956) is a Cypriot psychologist and politician of the conservative Democratic Rally party who served as European Commissioner for Health and Food Safety from 2019 to 2024. She was the first Cypriot national a ...

), which gathers the center-right EPP ministers ahead of meetings of the

Employment, Social Policy, Health and Consumer Affairs Council The Employment, Social Policy, Health and Consumer Affairs Council (EPSCO) is a configuration of the Council of the European Union. It meets four times a year, with two of the meetings focusing on social policy and employment. It is composed of th ...

(EPSCO). He is a member of the EPP Working Group on Bioethics and Human Dignity.

Role in national politics

From 2012 until 2018, Liese was a member of the CDU leadership under the party’s successive chairwomen

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 ...

(2012-2018) and

Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer (; Kramp; born 9 August 1962), sometimes referred to by her initials of AKK, is a retired German politician who served as Federal Ministry of Defence (Germany), Minister of Defence from 2019 to 2021 and as Leader of th ...

(2018). 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 Merkel's 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 following the 2013 federal elections, he was part of the CDU delegation in the working group on

consumer protection Consumer protection is the practice of safeguarding buyers of goods and services, and the public, against unfair practices in the marketplace. Consumer protection measures are often established by law. Such laws are intended to prevent business ...

. In similar negotiations following the 2017 federal elections, he was part of the working group on energy, climate protection and the environment, led by

Armin Laschet Armin Laschet (; born 18 February 1961) is a German politician who served as Minister President of North Rhine-Westphalia from 27 June 2017 to 26 October 2021. He served as Leader of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) from 22 January 2021 t ...

, Georg Nüßlein and

Barbara Hendricks Barbara Hendricks (born November 20, 1948) is an American lyric soprano and humanitarian. Born in Arkansas, Hendricks studied chemistry and mathematics at the University of Nebraska before becoming a singer. She gained acclaim for her operatic r ...

. 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 ...

of the CDU and

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 ...

under

Minister-President of North Rhine-Westphalia The Minister-President of North Rhine-Westphalia (), also referred to as Premier or Prime Minister, is the head of government of the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia (''NRW''). The position was created in 1946, when the British administr ...

Hendrik Wüst Hendrik Josef Wüst (born 19 July 1975) is a German politician serving as Minister-President of North Rhine-Westphalia, Minister-President of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia since 2021. He is a member of the Christian Democratic Union of Ger ...

following the 2022 state elections, Liese led his party’s delegation in the working group on the environment, agriculture and consumer protection; his counterparts from the Green Party were Jan-Niclas Gesenhues and

Norwich Rüße Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of the county of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. It lies by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north of Ipswich and east of Peterborough. The population of the Norwich ...

Political positions

Liese is known for his work on a human cells and tissues directive and conservative stance on

stem cell In multicellular organisms, stem cells are undifferentiated or partially differentiated cells that can change into various types of cells and proliferate indefinitely to produce more of the same stem cell. They are the earliest type of cell ...

research. In a background paper presented to the EPP in summer 2017, Liese proposed to scrap the Strasbourg seat of the

and give the French city the

European Medicines Agency The European Medicines Agency (EMA) is an agency of the European Union (EU) in charge of the evaluation and supervision of pharmaceutical products. Prior to 2004, it was known as the European Agency for the Evaluation of Medicinal Products ...

(EMA) instead. Ahead of the Christian Democrats’

leadership election A leadership election is a political contest held in various countries by which the members of a political party determine who will be the leader of their party. Generally, any political party can determine its own rules governing how and when a ...

in 2018, Liese publicly endorsed

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 ...

to succeed

as the party's chair.

Other activities

Central Committee of German Catholics The Central Committee of German Catholics (, ZdK) is a lay body comprising representatives of various Catholic organisations in Germany. They organise the Catholic Days in Germany. The organisation is headquartered in Berlin. Its predecessor, ...

, Member (since 1997) * German Industry Initiative for Energy Efficiency (DENEFF), Member of the Parliamentary Advisory BoardParliamentary Advisory Board
German Industry Initiative for Energy Efficiency (DENEFF). * Stiftung Zukunftsfähigkeit, Member of the Advisory Board * St. Maria zur Wiese, Member of the Board of Trustees

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Liese, Peter 1965 births Living people People from Hochsauerlandkreis University of Bonn alumni Christian Democratic Union of Germany MEPs MEPs for Germany 2019–2024 MEPs for Germany 2014–2019 MEPs for Germany 2009–2014 MEPs for Germany 2004–2009 MEPs for Germany 1999–2004 MEPs for Germany 1994–1999 Recipients of the Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany Articles containing video clips MEPs for Germany 2024–2029