26 Facts About Katarina Barley

Katarina Barley was born on 19 November 1968 and is a German politician and lawyer who has been a Member of the European Parliament since 2019, serving as one of its Vice-Presidents.

Katarina Barley served as Federal Minister of Justice and Consumer Protection in the fourth Cabinet of Angela Merkel.

Katarina Barley grew up in Cologne; her father was an English-born journalist who worked with the English-language service of Germany's international broadcaster, the Deutsche Welle, and her mother was a German physician.

Katarina Barley's father was born on 1935 and was originally from Lincolnshire.

Katarina Barley has said that she had a happy childhood, but that she grew up with a strong sense of social justice, influenced by her parents' experiences.

Katarina Barley studied at the University of Marburg and the University of Paris-Sud.

Katarina Barley graduated with a French law degree in 1990 and a German law degree in 1993.

Katarina Barley then worked as a legal adviser for the state government of Rhineland-Palatinate until 2001, when she became an assistant to constitutional judge Renate Jaeger in Karlsruhe.

From 2007 to 2008, Katarina Barley was a judge of the Trier district court and at the Wittlich local court.

Katarina Barley left this position when she was elected to Parliament in 2013.

Katarina Barley joined the Social Democratic Party of Germany in 1994.

Katarina Barley was a member of the parliamentary body in charge of appointing judges to the Highest Courts of Justice, namely the Federal Court of Justice, the Federal Administrative Court, the Federal Fiscal Court, the Federal Labour Court, and the Federal Social Court.

In 2014, Katarina Barley briefly served as a member of the Committee on the Affairs of the European Union.

In 2015, Katarina Barley was proposed by party chairman Sigmar Gabriel to succeed Yasmin Fahimi in the role of general secretary of the SPD, one of the party's most senior positions.

In May 2017, Schulz announced that Katarina Barley would succeed Manuela Schwesig as Federal Minister of Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth for the remainder of the legislative term until the elections.

Katarina Barley additionally became acting Federal Minister of Labour and Social Affairs on 28 September 2017, when Andrea Nahles stepped down to become the parliamentary leader of the SPD.

On 9 March 2018, Katarina Barley was named by Andrea Nahles and Olaf Scholz to succeed Heiko Maas as Minister of Justice and Consumer Protection in the fourth coalition government under the leadership of Chancellor Angela Merkel, sworn in on 14 March 2018.

In October 2018, the SPD announced that Katarina Barley would be the party's lead candidate for the 2019 European elections.

Since becoming a Member of the European Parliament, Katarina Barley has been serving as one of its Vice-Presidents; in this capacity, she has been part of the Parliament's leadership under Presidents David Sassoli and Roberta Metsola.

Katarina Barley called for a "European solution" and protection of the European external borders instead.

Katarina Barley has repeatedly criticized the Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orban, and called Orban a "cowardly dictator".

Katarina Barley has criticised democratic backsliding and the undermining of the rule of law in Hungary and Poland.

Katarina Barley went on to quip that "Germans indeed have experience in starving and persecution".

Katarina Barley gave a few exclusive interviews to Russia Today German, Vladimir Putin's propaganda channel, legitimizing RT as a journalistic media outlet, and many other politicians across the political spectrum did the same, raising concerns about Russian disinformation and its influence on democracy in Germany.

Katarina Barley's former husband Antonio, a lawyer, is a dual Spanish and Dutch citizen with a Spanish father and a Dutch mother; they met when they both studied in Paris and have two sons.

Since 2018, Katarina Barley has been in a relationship with Marco van den Berg, they married in 2020.