Werner Hoyer (born 17 November 1951) is a German economist and politician of the Free Democratic Party (FDP) who served as President of the

European Investment Bank The European Investment Bank (EIB) is the European Union's investment bank and is owned by the 27 member states. It is the largest multilateral financial institution in the world. The EIB finances and invests both through equity and debt sol ...

(EIB) between 2012 and 2023.

Education and early career

Hoyer graduated as an economist at the University of Cologne in 1974, and worked as a scientific assistant there until 1984. He earned from the same university a PhD degree in economics (i.e. German doctorate Dr. rer. pol.) in 1977, with a dissertation called ''Vermögenseffekte des Geldes – Theoretische Ansätze zur Rolle des Geldes als Vermögensobjekt im Wirtschaftsprozess'' (''Wealth Effects of Money – Theoretical Approaches to the Role of Money as a Capital Property in the Economic Process''). From 1985 to 1987, he worked with the in Cologne. He taught international economics at the University of Cologne until 1994. Hoyer is a member of the Union of European Federalists (UEF).

Political career

In 1972, Hoyer became a member of the FDP, and was a board member of the Young Liberals from 1983 to 1986. He chaired the local party board in Cologne from 1984 to 1992, and became a member of the FDP board 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 ...

in 1984 and the federal FDP board in 1994. Under the leadership of Klaus Kinkel, he was Secretary General of his party from 1993 to 1994. From 1997 to 2000, he was Vice President and from 2000 to 2005, President, of the European Liberal Democrat and Reform Party.

Member of the German Bundestag, 1987–2012

Hoyer first became a member of the

Bundestag The Bundestag (, "Federal Diet (assembly), Diet") is the lower house of the Germany, German Federalism in Germany, federal parliament. It is the only constitutional body of the federation directly elected by the German people. The Bundestag wa ...

in the 1987 elections, and served as chief whip from 1989 to 1993 and his party's spokesman for security policy from 1990 to 1994. From 2002 to 2009, he was deputy chair of the FDP parliamentary group in the

under the leadership of successive chairmen Wolfgang Gerhardt (2002-2006) and Guido Westerwelle (2006-2009). Between 2005 and 2009, he also served as Deputy Chairman of the German-American Parliamentary Friendship Group. Minister of State at the Federal Foreign Office, 1994–98 From 1994 to 1998, Hoyer was Minister of State at the

Foreign Office Foreign may refer to: Government * Foreign policy, how a country interacts with other countries * Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in many countries ** Foreign Office, a department of the UK government ** Foreign office and foreign minister * United ...

in the Fifth Kohl Cabinet under Foreign Minister Klaus Kinkel. In this capacity, he was the German representative in a high-level working group chaired by Spanish foreign minister Carlos Westendorp and set up to prepare the negotiations on treaty change which led to the Treaties of Amsterdam and subsequently,

Nice Nice ( ; ) is a city in and the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative city limits, with a population of nearly one million 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 ...

's decision-making processes, including the establishment of a

High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy The High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy/Vice-President of the European Commission (HR/VP) is the chief co-ordinator and representative of the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) within the European Un ...

. He also repeatedly reiterated German determination to enter a single currency – the

Euro The euro (currency symbol, symbol: euro sign, €; ISO 4217, currency code: EUR) is the official currency of 20 of the Member state of the European Union, member states of the European Union. This group of states is officially known as the ...

– by 1999. Minister of State at the Federal Foreign Office, 2009–12 From October 28, 2009 Hoyer was Minister of State at the

in the Second Cabinet Merkel under Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle. During that time, he was Germany’s official in charge of German-French relations. He resigned in 2012. In August 2011, Hoyer issued a tough statement criticizing plans by

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

to build new control posts between the two countries, insisting that this unilateral decision to increase customs procedures on the border violated European law.

President of the European Investment Bank, 2012–2023

On the basis of a nomination by the German government, Hoyer was appointed as President and Member of the Management Committee of the

in 2012, succeeding Philippe Maystadt. His competitors for the post were Maystadt himself and Magdalena Álvarez, at the time one of the EIB's eight vice-presidents. In 2017, Hoyer was re-appointed for a second six-year term. In 2012, Hoyer called for a new Marshall Plan – a reference to the US-financed programme that revived European economies after

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

– to be launched to reanimate the Greek economy, involving both private and public investment. He said the EIB had the resources to invest in Greek infrastructure and support Greek banks to revive lending to businesses. Following his party’s strong performance in the 2017 German elections, Hoyer was cited as a possible candidate to succeed Wolfgang Schäuble and take over as Federal Minister of Finance. During his last annual results press conference in 2023, Mr. Hoyer unveiled the new EIB logo. On June 24, 2024, the European Public Prosecutor’s Office issued a statement that it had obtained the lifting of immunity for two former EIB employees. Various media outlets reported that Werner Hoyer was under investigation for corruption, abuse of influence, and the misappropriation of EU funds. Hoyer has described the allegations as absurd and unfounded.

Other activities

* Berlin office of the American Jewish Committee (AJC), Member of the Advisory Board * Charlemagne Prize Foundation, Member of the Board * European Leadership Network (ELN), Member * European Movement International, Member of the Honorary Council * Friedrich August von Hayek Foundation, Member of the Board of Trustees * German-Algerian Society, President * German Council on Foreign Relations (DGAP), Member of the Steering CommitteeBoards
German Council on Foreign Relations (DGAP). * Institute for European Politics, President of the Board of Trustees * Ludwig Erhard Foundation, Member

Personal life

Hoyer is married and has two children.

References

External links

*
Bundestag biography
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hoyer, Werner 1951 births Living people Members of the Bundestag for North Rhine-Westphalia Presidents of the European Investment Bank German officials of the European Union Members of the Bundestag 2009–2013 Members of the Bundestag 2005–2009 Members of the Bundestag 2002–2005 Members of the Bundestag 1998–2002 Members of the Bundestag 1994–1998 Members of the Bundestag for the Free Democratic Party (Germany)