Michael Brand (politician)
| Michael Brand | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Member of the Bundestag | |
|
Assumed office 2005 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
19 November 1973 Fulda, Hesse, West Germany (now Germany) |
| Citizenship | German |
| Nationality | Germany |
| Political party |
 German:CDU  EU:European People's Party |
| Children | 3 |
| Alma mater | University of Bonn |
Michael Brand (born 19 November 1973 in Fulda, Hesse) is a German politician and member of the CDU.
Political career
A former election observer at the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), Brand has been a directly elected member of the Bundestag since 2005, representing Fulda.
Between 2005 and 2013, Brand was a member of the Committee on the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety, where he served as the CDU/CSU parliamentary group’s rapporteur on recycling and waste regulations. From 2009, he also served on the Defence Committee and on the Sub-Committee for Civilian Crisis Prevention.
Since the 2009 federal elections, Brand has been serving on the Committee on Human Rights and Humanitarian Aid; he has been the committee’s chairman since 2014. In addition, he serves as deputy chairman of the Parliamentary Friendship Group for Relations with Bosnia and Herzegovina and as member of the Parliamentary Friendship Group for Relations with the States of South-Eastern Europe (Albania, Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia).
Political positions
In April 2015, Brand vigorously criticized German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier for refusing to use the word “genocide” to describe the mass killing of Armenians by the Ottoman Empire, arguing that “the German foreign minister is expected on a national and international level to recognize and name a genocide; [...] especially because of the Holocaust a genocide must not be by-passed or withheld due to cowardice.”[1]
In 2015, a majority of the Bundestag voted in favor of banning assisted suicides performed by associations, on the basis of a proposal put forward by Brand and fellow parliamentarian Kerstin Griese of the Social Democratic Party (SPD). The proposed bill submitted by Brand and Griese had had called for "striking a balance" between punishing those who provide suicide assistance and a complete deregulation of the process. The parliamentarians voted in favor of one of the proposals irrespective of their parties' policy on the matter.[2]
Other activities
- Aktion Deutschland Hilft (Germany's Relief Coalition), Member of the Board of Trustees (since 2012)
- Evangelical Church in Germany (EKD), Member of the Advisory Commission for Public Responsibility (since 2015)
- Federal Agency for Civic Education (BpB), Member of the Board of Trustees (since 2009)
- Point Alpha Foundation, Member of the Board of Trustees (since 2013)
- Rhön Biosphere Reserve, Member of the Advisory Board
- Society for Threatened Peoples (GfbV), Member
- Friends of the Fulda University of Applied Sciences, Member
References
- ↑ Hans von der Burchard (April 27, 2015), Steinmeier under fire on Armenia Politico Europe.
- ↑ Bundestag votes against 'commercial' assisted suicides Deutsche Welle, November 6, 2015.
External links
- Official website (German)
- Bundestag biography (German)