Wolf Klinz (born 13 September 1941 in

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

) is a German politician. He served 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 ...

(MEP) with the

Free Democratic Party of Germany The Free Democratic Party (, FDP, ) is a liberal political party in Germany. The FDP was founded in 1948 by members of former liberal political parties in Germany before World War II, namely the German Democratic Party and the German People' ...

(FDP), part of the

Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe The Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE; , ADLE) was a transnational alliance between two European political parties, the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe Party and the European Democratic Party. ALDE had political ...

(ALDE), from 2004 until 2014 and from 2017 until 2019.

Early life and education

Born in Vienna to an Austrian mother and a German father, Klinz holds dual citizenship. Klinz studied economics and business administration in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

and Vienna. He graduated with an

M.Com A Master of Commerce (MCom or M Com) is a postgraduate degree designed to provide knowledge in commerce, accounting, mathematics, economics, and management-related subjects. Like the undergraduate Bachelor of Commerce, the degree is mainly offered ...

in 1963 from the Hochschule für Welthandel (now

Vienna University of Economics and Business The Vienna University of Economics and Business ( , WU) is a public research university in Vienna, Austria. The university received triple accreditation (AACSB, EQUIS and AMBA). History WU was founded on 1 October 1898 as '' k.u.k. Exportakade ...

), a PhD in 1965, and an

MBA A Master of Business Administration (MBA) is a professional degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration; elective courses may allow further study in a particular a ...

from

INSEAD INSEAD ( ; French: ''Institut européen d'administration des affaires'') is a non-profit business school with locations in Europe (Fontainebleau, France), Asia (Singapore), the Middle East (Abu Dhabi, UAE) and North America (San Francisco, USA ...

, Fontainebleau, in 1966.

Career in business

Klinz was a Partner with

McKinsey & Company McKinsey & Company (informally McKinsey or McK) is an American multinational strategy and management consulting firm that offers professional services to corporations, governments, and other organizations. Founded in 1926 by James O. McKinse ...

in the United Kingdom, Germany and France. Subsequently, he served as a Member of the Executive Board of a Swiss Corporation. After German reunification he joined for the Executive Board of

Treuhandanstalt The (, " Trust agency"), colloquially referred to as , was an agency established by the government of the German Democratic Republic to reprivatise/ privatise East German enterprises, Volkseigene Betriebe (VEBs), prior to German reunification ...

, the German Government's agency for privatisation of the former East German industry. He finished his business career as

CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization. CEOs find roles in variou ...

of a large German corporation in 2003 when he decided to go into European politics. From 2000 to 2004, Klinz held the (honorary) position of President of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry (IHK) Frankfurt am Main. From 2003 to 2004 he was the Vice-President of

Eurochambres Eurochambres is the Association of European Chambers of Commerce and Industry. The association is a representative organisation in Brussels for businesses in Europe through 42 members (43 national associations of chambers of commerce and industry a ...

in Brussels.

Political career

Klinz was Chairman of the Special Committee on the Financial, Economic and Social Crisis (CRIS), he sat on the European Parliament's

Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs The Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs (ECON) is a committee of the European Parliament which is responsible for the regulation of financial services, the free movement of capital and payments, taxation and competition policies, oversight ...

(ECON) and he was a substitute for the

Committee on Development The Committee on Development (Commission du développement, DEVE) is a committee of the European Parliament responsible for promoting, implementing and monitoring the development and cooperation policy of the European Union, notably talks with deve ...

(DEVE). He was the Vice-Chairman for the Delegation for relations with

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

and a member of the Delegation for relations with the countries of

Southeast Asia Southeast Asia is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, southeastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of China, east of the Indian subcontinent, and northwest of the Mainland Au ...

and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (

ASEAN The Association of Southeast Asian Nations, commonly abbreviated as ASEAN, is a regional grouping of 10 states in Southeast Asia "that aims to promote economic and security cooperation among its ten members." Together, its member states r ...

). In 2009 Klinz replaced

Peter Skinner Peter William Skinner (born 1 June 1959 in Oxford) is a British former Labour Party politician. He was a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) from 1994 until 2014, first for the Kent West constituency from 1994 to 1999, and then from 1999 f ...

as Chair of the steering committee of the European Parliamentary Financial Services Forum, a platform "promoting effective dialogue between the financial industry and MEPs and contributing to a greater understanding of financial services issues". In 2015, the European Commission asked Klinz to chair the board of the

European Financial Reporting Advisory Group The European Financial Reporting Advisory Group is a private association established in 2001 with the encouragement of the European Commission to serve the public interest. Its Member Organisations are European stakeholders and National Organisati ...

(EFRAG), which was set up in 2001 as a private association to advise the Commission on accounting standards and other aspects of financial reporting. Klinz did not take up this position in May 2015 due to ill health; Jean-Paul Gauzes was appointed instead. In November 2017, Klinz again became a

, after his party colleague

Michael Theurer Michael Theurer (born 12 January 1967) is a German politician of the Free Democratic Party (FDP) who served as a member of the Bundestag from the state of Baden-Württemberg from 2017 to 2024. From 2009 until 2017, he was a Member of the Europe ...

had been elected to 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 German elections. He served on the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs. In this capacity, he was his parliamentary group's

rapporteur A rapporteur is a person who is appointed by an organization to report on the proceedings of its meetings. The term is a French-derived word. For example, Dick Marty was appointed ''rapporteur'' by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Eur ...

on location of the seat of the

European Banking Authority The European Banking Authority (EBA) is a regulatory agency of the European Union headquartered in La Défense, Île-de-France. Its activities include conducting stress tests on European banks to increase transparency in the European financi ...

(EBA) in 2018.

Other activities

Corporate boards

* AVECO AG, Member of the Supervisory Board * IVG Immobilien, Member of the Advisory Board * Deutsche Real Estate AG, Member of the Supervisory Board (2001-2002) *

Zumtobel Group The Zumtobel Group is an Austrian company specialising in lighting and headquartered in Dornbirn. Zumtobel engages in the development, production and sales of lighting, luminaires, lighting management and lighting components for indoor and outdo ...

, Member of the Supervisory Board (2002–2010)

Non-profit organizations

* Hessian Broadcasting Corporation (HR), Member of the Broadcasting Council (2002–2004) * Transparency Germany, Member of the Advisory Board (until 2001)

Recognition

Klinz received the Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Medal of the University Frankfurt am Main and the Medal of Honour of the IHK Frankfurt am Main. He received the

Grand Decoration of Honour in Silver for Services to the Republic of Austria The Decoration of Honour for Services to the Republic of Austria () is a state decoration of the Republic of Austria. It is divided into 15 classes and is the highest award in the Austrian national honours system. History The Decoration of Hono ...

in 2005. In 2009 he received the Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany. On 1 September 2020 Dr. Wolf Klinz was appointed as an

Honorary Professor Honorary titles (professor, president, reader, lecturer) in academia may be conferred on persons in recognition of contributions by a non-employee or by an employee beyond regular duties. This practice primarily exists in the UK and Germany, as ...

of European Policy and International Management of the Ukrainian-American Concordia University (UACU).

Personal life

Klinz lives in Berlin.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Klinz, Wolf 1941 births Living people MEPs for Germany 2004–2009 MEPs for Germany 2009–2014 Free Democratic Party (Germany) MEPs Recipients of the Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany Recipients of the Grand Decoration for Services to the Republic of Austria Vienna University of Economics and Business alumni MEPs for Germany 2014–2019 INSEAD alumni