1. Manfred Weber was born on 14 July 1972 and is a German politician who has been serving as President of the European People's Party since 2022 and as Leader of the EPP Group in the European Parliament since 2014.
18 Facts About Manfred Weber
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Manfred Weber has been a Member of the European Parliament from Germany since 2004.
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Manfred Weber is a member of the Christian Social Union, part of the European People's Party.
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Manfred Weber is known as a moderate politician and power broker in EU politics.
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In September 2018, Manfred Weber declared his intention to run for the position of President of the European Commission and was elected as the Spitzenkandidat of the EPP in November.
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Manfred Weber served on the European Parliament's Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs from 2004 until 2012 and on the Committee on Constitutional Affairs from 2012 until 2014.
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Manfred Weber has since been a member of the Conference of Presidents of the European Parliament, first under the leadership of Martin Schulz and later Antonio Tajani.
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Between 2014 and 2016, Manfred Weber was a member of the now defunct G5 group along with European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, Vice President Frans Timmermans, Socialist group leader Gianni Pittella and Martin Schulz, then President of the European Parliament.
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In September 2018, Manfred Weber announced his candidacy for the post of the President of the European Commission for the 2019 European election.
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On 7 June 2014, Manfred Weber dismissed demands by British Prime Minister David Cameron to put the brakes on European integration.
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In early 2017, Manfred Weber held that if the International Monetary Fund insisted on debt relief for Greece, it should no longer participate in the bailout, thereby breaking ranks with his political party's official line that the program would end if the IMF pulled out.
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In 2018, Manfred Weber placed a petition to grant free Interrail tickets to all EU citizens on their 18th birthday.
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In July 2013, when the European Parliament Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs issued the Tavares Report criticizing the erosion of fundamental rights in Hungary, Manfred Weber dismissed it as a politically motivated attack on the government of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban by leftist parties.
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When Fidesz withdrew from the EPP-Group under threat of expulsion in March 2021, Manfred Weber declared it a "sad day" for the EPP and thanked Fidesz members for their past contributions.
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Rather than new supplies across the Baltic, Manfred Weber called upon the commission to accelerate its efforts to import more gas across Turkey from the Caspian Sea, and even potentially Iran and Iraq.
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In March 2018, Manfred Weber voted against initiatives prohibiting gay conversion therapies, unlike the majority of the European People Party's MEPs.
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Manfred Weber disagreed on this stance, accusing the von der Leyen Commission of playing "party politics" and of campaigning against the regional Government of Andalucia and in favour of Spanish Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez.
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In July 2023, Manfred Weber tried to block the Nature Restoration Law, saying it would destroy farmers' livelihoods and threaten food security.