Günter Verheugen, born in Bad Kreuznach in 1944, was Secretary General of the FDP and switched to the SPD in 1982. He was a member of the Deutsche Bundestag between 1983 and 1999, Secretary general of the SPD and deputy leader of the SPD parliamentary group [1994 to 1997]. From 1998 to 1999 he was Minister of State at the Federal Foreign Office. He then moved to Brussels as EU Commissioner for EU Enlargement and was Vice-President of the EU Commission during his second term [2004 to 2010]. He served as European Co-Chairman of the Transatlantic Economic Council between 2007 and 2010. He is an honorary professor at the Europe University Viadrina.
As of 2024