12 Facts About Evelyne Gebhardt

Evelyne Gebhardt was born on 19 January 1954 and is a German politician who served as a Member of the European Parliament from 1994 to 2022.

Evelyne Gebhardt is a member of the Social Democratic Party of Germany, part of the Party of European Socialists.

Evelyne Gebhardt's father was an industrial chimney sweeper and her mother worked as a translator for Kodak.

Evelyne Gebhardt studied at the University Paris Diderot, the University of Tubingen and the University of Stuttgart, studying linguistics, political science and political economy.

Evelyne Gebhardt subsequently worked as a freelance translator, and moved to Germany in 1975.

In 1999, Evelyne Gebhardt was awarded the Federal Cross of Merit.

In parliament, Evelyne Gebhardt was a member of the Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection and of the parliament's delegation for relations with the People's Republic of China.

Evelyne Gebhardt was a substitute member for the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs and the Delegation for relations with the Korean Peninsula.

Evelyne Gebhardt is best known for her role in shaping the controversial Services Directive in 2005 and 2006.

Evelyne Gebhardt was parliamentary rapporteur for the directive and played an important role in facilitating an agreement with the European People's Party which allowed Parliament to pass the directive with a huge majority and thereby forcing EU governments to follow their line.

From 2017 to 2019, Evelyne Gebhardt served as one of the fourteen vice-presidents of the European Parliament under the leadership of Antonio Tajani.

In November 2021, Evelyne Gebhardt announced that she would resign from the European Parliament by February 2022.