Sven Simon (born October 9, 1978, in

Lahn, Hesse Lahn was a district-free city in the state of Hesse, which was created on January 1, 1977 during the Hessian administrative reform when the two cities of Gießen and Wetzlar were merged. It was named after the river Lahn to make the merger one of ...

) is a German

law professor A jurist is a person with expert knowledge of law; someone who analyzes and comments on law. This person is usually a specialist legal scholar, mostly (but not always) with a formal education in law (a law degree) and often a legal practition ...

and politician 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 2019. He previously taught international and

European law European Union law is a system of Supranational union, supranational Law, laws operating within the 27 member states of the European Union (EU). It has grown over time since the 1952 founding of the European Coal and Steel Community, to promote ...

Philipps University of Marburg Philipps is an English language, English, Dutch language, Dutch, and German language, German surname meaning "lover of horses". Derivative, patronym, of the more common ancient Greek name "Philippos and Philippides." Notable people with this surnam ...

. In 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 ...

he was the lead candidate for the Christian Democratic Union

Hesse Hesse or Hessen ( ), officially the State of Hesse (), is a States of Germany, state in Germany. Its capital city is Wiesbaden, and the largest urban area is Frankfurt, which is also the country's principal financial centre. Two other major hist ...

Academic career

Simon started his academic career at the Justus Liebig University Giessen and the

University of Warwick The University of Warwick ( ; abbreviated as ''Warw.'' in post-nominal letters) is a public research university on the outskirts of Coventry between the West Midlands and Warwickshire, England. The university was founded in 1965 as part of ...

at which he acquired a 'Certificate in English Law' in 2003. After his First State Examination in 2005, he pursued a law doctorate with a scholarship of the Hanns Seidel Foundation. During his doctoral studies, he was a visiting researcher at the Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law and International Law in Heidelberg, 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 ...

in Brussels as well as at the

World Trade Organization The World Trade Organization (WTO) is an intergovernmental organization headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland that regulates and facilitates international trade. Governments use the organization to establish, revise, and enforce the rules that g ...

in Geneva. In 2009 he finished his doctoral thesis on the 'Liberalization of Public Services in WTO and EU Law' at the chair of Thilo Marauhn. During his clerkships he worked at the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy, the law firm Weber-Yacobovitch-Feder in

Tel Aviv Tel Aviv-Yafo ( or , ; ), sometimes rendered as Tel Aviv-Jaffa, and usually referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the Gush Dan metropolitan area of Israel. Located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline and with a popula ...

, at the law firm

Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer Freshfields LLP (formerly Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, or FBD) is a British multinational law firm headquartered in London, England, and a member of the so-called " Magic Circle". The firm has 28 offices in 17 jurisdictions across Asia, Europ ...

in Frankfurt and at the German Permanent Mission to the United Nations. In 2010 he finished the Second State Examination, thereby qualifying as an attorney in the State of

. From 2010 to 2015 Simon was a postdoctoral researcher at the chair for Public, International and European Law in

Gießen Giessen, spelled in German (), is a town in the German state () of Hesse, capital of both the district of Giessen and the administrative region of Giessen. The population is approximately 90,000, with roughly 37,000 university students. Th ...

. In 2011 and 2014 he was a visiting professor at the

University of Wisconsin Law School The University of Wisconsin Law School is the Law school in the United States, law school of the University of Wisconsin–Madison, a Public university, public research university in Madison, Wisconsin. Founded in 1868, the school is guided by a ...

in Madison. In 2015 he finished his

habilitation Habilitation is the highest university degree, or the procedure by which it is achieved, in Germany, France, Italy, Poland and some other European and non-English-speaking countries. The candidate fulfills a university's set criteria of excelle ...

with a monography on the 'Legal Limits of the Federal Constitutional Court in the Process of European integration'. With this he got the

venia legendi Habilitation is the highest university degree, or the procedure by which it is achieved, in Germany, France, Italy, Poland and some other European and non-English-speaking countries. The candidate fulfills a university's set criteria of excellen ...

to teach Public, European and International Law. From October 2015 to September 2016 he was a deputy professor 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 ...

. Since December 1, 2016 he holds the chair for International and European Law with Public Law 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 ...

. Since 2011 Simon has been a member of the Federal Board in the German Association for the United Nations . In 2017 he became the federal vice-chairman. Moreover, Simon counsels governments and NGOs on questions of international and European law and serves as a trial observer in various international court cases. In November 2022, after plagiarism hunter Martin Heidingsfelder alleged that Simon had failed to identify sources for large parts of his dissertation the university opened an inquiry into rescinding doctorate degree. In September 2023 the university closed the investigation. It concluded in accordance with the legal opinion of three external reviewers that Simon had in fact not plagiarized in his dissertation.

Political career

Career in local politics

In 2000 Simon joined the Christian Democratic Union and their youth wing Junge Union. Since then he held various positions within the party hierarchy. Currently he serves as deputy chairman of his party's chapter in the District of Giessen. and as a member in his party's regional working group on European affairs. Since 2006, he has been a member of the district parliament in Giessen, where he serves as deputy chairman of the CDU group.

Member of the European Parliament, 2019–present

In the European Parliament, Simon has been serving on the

Committee on International Trade The Committee on International Trade (INTA) is a committee of the European Parliament. Its current chair, elected on 10 July 2019, is Bernd Lange.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 ...

(since 2021). Since 2021, he has been part of the Parliament's delegation to the Conference on the Future of Europe. In addition to his committee assignments, Simon is part of the Parliament's delegation for relations with the

Arab Peninsula The Arabian Peninsula (, , or , , ) or Arabia, is a peninsula in West Asia, situated north-east of Africa on the Arabian plate. At , comparable in size to India, the Arabian Peninsula is the largest peninsula in the world. Geographically, the ...

. He 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 ...

Other activities

Union of European Federalists The Union of European Federalists (UEF) is an international non-profit association originally founded in 1946 and refounded in 1973, promoting the advent of a European federal State based on the idea of unity in diversity. In 1946, it brought ...

, deputy state chairman * European Academy Hesse, president (since 2017
(bpb)

Recognition

* 2018 – Medal for Public Service of the District of Giessen * 2015 – Dr. Herbert Stolzenberg Award for his habilitation thesis * 2011 – Hessian State Award for Excellence in Academic Teaching * 2011 – Wolfgang Mittermeier Award for Excellence in Academic Teaching * 2009 – Award of the Justus Liebig University Giessen for the best doctoral thesis of the year 2008/09 * 2009 – Doctoral Thesis Award of th
Juristische Studiengesellschaft
ref>

Publications (selection)

* Liberalisierung von Dienstleistungen der Daseinsvorsorge im WTO- und EU-Recht, Mohr Siebeck, Tübingen 2009, (Dissertation) * Grenzen des Bundesverfassungsgerichts im europäischen Integrationsprozess, Mohr Siebeck, Tübingen 2016, (Habilitation)

References

External links

in the

German National Library The German National Library (DNB; ) is the central archival library and national bibliographic centre for the Federal Republic of Germany. It is one of the largest libraries in the world. Its task is to collect, permanently archive, comprehens ...

database * ttps://www.uni-marburg.de/de/fb01/professuren/oeffrecht/prof-dr-sven-simon Marburg University website
Personal Website of Sven Simon
{{DEFAULTSORT:Simon, Sven Jurists from Hesse Academic staff of the University of Marburg University of Wisconsin Law School faculty Alumni of the University of Warwick University of Giessen alumni People from Wetzlar 1978 births Living people MEPs for Germany 2019–2024 MEPs for Germany 2024–2029