Sabine Verheyen (born 24 October 1964) is a German architect and politician who has served as the

First Vice-President of the European Parliament There are fourteen vice-presidents of the European Parliament who sit in for the president in presiding over the plenary of the European Parliament. Role Vice-presidents are members of the Bureau Bureau ( ) may refer to: Agencies and organiza ...

since July 2024, having been 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 ...

(MEP) since 2009. She 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 and personal life

From 1983 to 1988, Verheyen studied

architecture Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and construction, constructi ...

at the Aachen University of Applied Sciences. She is married and has three children. In Brussels, Verheyen has been sharing an apartment with fellow parliamentarian

Monika Hohlmeier Monika Hohlmeier (née Strauß; born 2 July 1962) is a German politician who has been serving as a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) since 2009. She is a member of the Christian Social Union in Bavaria, Christian Social Union, part of the E ...

since 2009.

Political career

Career in local politics

Verheyen joined the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) in 1990. Since 2001 she has been a member of the leadership of the CDU in North Rhine-Westphalia and since 2002 a member of the Regional Executive Committee of the CDU Municipal Policy Association (KPV). From 1994 to 2009 Verheyen was a member of the

city council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, borough counc ...

of Aachen. From 1999 to 2009 she was

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilitie ...

of Aachen and member of the

Euregio EUREGIO is a cross-border region between the Netherlands and Germany and the first Euroregion. It was founded in 1958 as a German Eingetragener Verein, and has been converted in 2016 into a public body based on the 1991 Treaty of Anholt (, ). Part ...

Council.

Member of the European Parliament, 2009–present

In the

2009 elections The following elections occurred in the year 2009. * Electoral calendar 2009 * 2009 United Nations Security Council election Caribbean * 2009 Antiguan general election * 2009 Aruban general election * 2009 Caymanian constitutional referendum ...

, Verheyen was elected to 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 ...

. She has since served as a member of the

Committee on Culture and Education The Committee on Culture and Education (CULT) is a committee of the European Parliament. Responsibilities of the committee This committee has focused on the well-being of all members of the human race and the increased opportunities for educat ...

; since 2019, she has been its chairwoman. On the committee, Verheyen 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 from 2014 until 2019. Alongside Petra Kammerevert, she was selected in 2016 as co-rapporteur on the audio-visual media services directive, which sought to introduce levies and cultural quotas on services like

Netflix Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...

. In 2020, she also joined the Special Committee on Foreign Interference in all Democratic Processes in the European Union. In addition to her committee assignments, Verheyen is a member of the Parliament's delegation for relations with

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

. Between 2009 and 2014, she also served as a substitute member on the

Committee on Regional Development 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 ...

and the Delegation 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 ...

. She is also a member of the European Internet Forum, the European Parliament Intergroup on the Digital Agenda and of the European Parliament Intergroup on Children's Rights. In October 2021, Verheyen was elected as one of five deputies of

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 ...

as chair of the CDU in North Rhine-Westphalia. Verheyen was nominated by her party as delegate to the

Federal Convention The Constitutional Convention took place in Philadelphia from May 25 to September 17, 1787. While the convention was initially intended to revise the league of states and devise the first system of federal government under the Articles of Conf ...

for the purpose of electing the

President of Germany The president of Germany, officially titled the Federal President of the Federal Republic of Germany (),The official title within Germany is ', with ' being added in international correspondence; the official English title is President of the F ...

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

. 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 ...

following the 2022 state elections, Verheyen led her party’s delegation in the working group on cultural affairs, media and sports.

Other activities

* Caritas-Gemeinschaftsstiftung für das Bistum Aachen, member of the board of trustees * European Internet Foundation, member of the steering committee *

Westdeutscher Rundfunk (; "West German Broadcasting Cologne"), shortened to WDR (), is a German public broadcasting, public-broadcasting institution based in the States of Germany, Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia with its main office in Cologne. WDR is a const ...

(WDR), alternate member of the broadcasting council

Political positions

Ahead of the

2021 Christian Democratic Union of Germany leadership election 2021 Christian Democratic Union of Germany leadership election may refer to: * January 2021 Christian Democratic Union of Germany leadership election * December 2021 Christian Democratic Union of Germany leadership election {{Short pages monit ...

, Verheyen publicly endorsed

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 ...

to succeed

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 ...

as the party’s chair.Vor dem CDU-Bundesparteitag: Auf die Aachener kann sich Laschet verlassen
''

Aachener Zeitung ''Aachener Zeitung'' (; ; AZ) is a daily newspaper published in Aachen, Germany. It is printed, alongside the daily ''Aachener Nachrichten'' (AN), by Mediahuis in the Rhenish (format), Rhenish format. History The AZ was founded in 1946 as ''A ...

'', 14 January 2021.

References

External links

Homepage of Sabine Verheyen
(German)
Biography at the European Parliament
{{DEFAULTSORT:Verheyen, Sabine 1964 births Living people Politicians from North Rhine-Westphalia Christian Democratic Union of Germany MEPs MEPs for Germany 2019–2024 MEPs for Germany 2014–2019 MEPs for Germany 2009–2014 21st-century women MEPs for Germany Women mayors of places in Germany Mayors of Aachen MEPs for Germany 2024–2029