Reinhard Bütikofer

Reinhard Bütikofer

From September 13th to 18th, Reinhard Bütikofer attended the 31st Annual Congress-Bundestag Seminar, hosted by The Congressional Study Groups on Germany and supported by the Heinrich Böll Foundation. The seminar provides a unique opportunity for German and American legislators and other distinguished personalities to discuss the transatlantic relationship and its role in solving global challenges.

For the 31st Annual Seminar iteration, various pressing topics were on the agenda: the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), a broader transatlantic economic outlook, domestic energy developments, the US political process and campaigns, and foreign policy priorities beginning with Ukraine and rebuilding trust after the NSA surveillance affair. In addition to Mr. Bütikofer, the German delegation is comprised of seven current Bundestag members, and two former members.

Reinhard Bütikofer discussed some of the most pressing issues in the transatlantic relationship at two different conferences: “The Transatlantic Town Hall: Regional Security, Energy Policy, and Trade" in Harrisburgh, PA and The United States and Germany in 2014: Best Friends or Just Allies?” at Georgetown University in Washington.

 

Biography:

Reinhard Bütikofer is co-chair of the European Green Party (EGP) and a member of the European Parliament for the German Greens. He is a member of the Committee on Industry, Research and Energy and a substitute member of the Committee on Foreign Affairs as well as on the Committee on Security and Defense. He is part of the Delegation for Relations with the United States as well as the Delegation for Relations with China. Mr. Bütikofer is rapporteur on Raw Materials as well as rapporteur on European Industrial Policy for the European Parliament.

In addition, he is the Green Group's spokesperson on Industrial Policy and the delegation speaker for the parliamentarians from the German Green Party (Bündnis 90/Die Grünen).

From 2002 to 2008 Mr. Bütikofer served as the party chairman of the German Green Party. He was the party’s secretary general from 1998 until 2002. Prior to that, he was the state chairman of the Green Party in Baden-Württemberg. His career with the Green Party began when he was elected to the city council of Heidelberg in 1984.