Management

Chairman Markus Ferber, MEP

Born in Augsburg, Bavaria, in 1965, the trained engineer initially worked as a design and sales engineer in microelectronics and environmental technology.  In 1994, Ferber was first elected to the European Parliament as the CSU-Member for the District of Swabia, the constituency he still represents. Until 1999, he was the spokesperson for the “young group” within the EPP group, between 1996 and 1999 he was also the CDU/CSU-group’s parliamentary manager in the European Parliament (EP). From 1999 to 2014, he served as chairman of the CSU-group, since 2013 he has been the spokesperson for the parliamentary group on small and medium sized businesses. Between 2014 and 2018, Ferber served as first vice-chairman on the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs, since 2018 he has been the EPP’s coordinator for the committee in the EP. Ferber is currently also a deputy member in the Committee on Transport and Tourism. Since 2000, he has chaired the Bavarian branch of the ‘Europa-Union’, Germany’s biggest pro-European citizens' initiative. Before taking over as Chair, Ferber served six years as deputy Chairman for the Hanns-Seidel-Foundation.

HSS

Secretary General Dr. Josef Widmann

Dr. Josef Widmann, a native of Munich, received his doctorate in law at LMU Munich. He initially served as a judge and public prosecutor in the Bavarian judiciary before joining the CSU parliamentary group in 1999 as the head of the division for constitutional, legal, and parliamentary affairs. Starting in 2004, Dr. Widmann served as the deputy parliamentary director, worked within the parliamentary office from 2010 to 2014, and has been the CSU parliamentary director since 2014.

As of November 1, 2024, he took over the role of Secretary General of the CSU-affiliated Hanns Seidel Foundation.