View source for Reinhard Bütikofer

{{short description|German politician  (born 1953)}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name                = Reinhard Bütikofer
| honorific-suffix    = [[Member of the European Parliament|MEP]]
| image               = Reinhard Bütikofer in 2019.jpg
| imagesize           = 
| office              = [[Member of the European Parliament]]
| term_start          = [[2009 European Parliament election in Germany|14 July 2009]]
| term_end            = 15 July 2024
| constituency        = [[Germany (European Parliament constituency)|Germany]]
| office2             = Co-chair of the [[European Green Party]]
| term_start2         = 2012
| term_end2           = 10 November 2019
| predecessor2        = [[Philippe Lamberts]]
| successor2          = [[Thomas Waitz]]
| alongside2          = [[Monica Frassoni]]
| office3             = Leader of [[Alliance 90/The Greens]]
| alongside3          = [[Angelika Beer]]<br />[[Claudia Roth]]
| term_start3         = 8 December 2002
| term_end3           = 16 November 2008
| predecessor3        = [[Fritz Kuhn]]
| successor3          = [[Cem Özdemir]]
| office4             = Member of the [[Landtag of Baden-Württemberg]]
| term_start4         = 25 March 1984
| term_end4           = 24 March 1996
| birth_name          = Reinhard Hans Bütikofer
| birth_date          = {{birth date and age|1953|01|26|df=y}}
| birth_place         = [[Mannheim]], [[Baden-Württemberg]], Germany
| death_date          = 
| death_place         = 
| party               = '''''{{flag|Germany|name=German}}'''''<br />[[Alliance 90/The Greens]]<br />'''''{{flag|EU}}'''''<br />[[European Green Party]]
| spouse              = 
| children            = 
| alma_mater          = [[University of Heidelberg]] (did not graduate)
| website             = [http://reinhardbuetikofer.eu/ http://reinhardbuetikofer.eu/]
| caption             = Reinhard Bütikofer in 2019
}}
'''Reinhard Hans Bütikofer''' (born 26 January 1953) is a German politician who served as a member of the [[European Parliament]] from 2009 to 2024. He is a member of the [[Alliance 90/The Greens]], part of the [[European Green Party]]. He was the co-chair of Alliance 90/The Greens (alongside [[Claudia Roth]]) from 2002 to 2008 and of the European Green Party (alongside [[Monica Frassoni]]) from 2012 to 2019.<ref>[http://www.gruene-europa.de/europaeische-gruene-partei-waehlt-reinhard-buetikofer-zum-neuen-ko-vorsitzenden-8515.html Website] of [[The Greens–European Free Alliance|The Greens / EFA]]{{dead link|date=January 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}: Article on EGP board election, 12 November 2012</ref>

==Early life and education==
Bütikofer was born in [[Mannheim]] and grew up in [[Speyer]]. He studied [[philosophy]], [[sinology]] and [[history]] in [[University of Heidelberg|Heidelberg]], but did not finish his studies.

==Political career==
===Early beginnings===
Bütikofer was active in the [[German student movement|student's movement]] and one of the "[[K-gruppen]]", the [[Maoism|Maoist]] [[Communist League of West Germany]] (''Kommunistischer Bund Westdeutschland''; KBW). From the 1980s onwards, he became active in Heidelberg municipal politics for the Green-Alternative List.

In 1984, Bütikofer was elected into the town council of Heidelberg and became a member of the Green Party, the starting point of his political career with Alliance 90/The Greens. In 1988, he was elected in the [[Landtag of Baden-Württemberg]]. He was Member of the Landtag until 1996.

After a year of [[parental leave]], in 1997 Bütikofer became co-chairman of the Green Party in Baden-Württemberg, alongside Monika Schnaitmann. Two years later he was elected [[secretary general]] of the federal party. In December 2002 he became co-chairman of the federal party (alongside [[Angelika Beer]]) and was reelected in 2004 and 2006 (alongside [[Claudia Roth]]). On 3 March 2008 he announced not to stand again as a party chairman and to run for European Parliament in 2009, to which he was elected.

===Member of the European Parliament, 2009–2024===
From 2009 to 2024, Bütikofer was a [[Member of the European Parliament]] (MEP) for the German Green Party. He was a member of the [[European Parliament Committee on Industry, Research and Energy|Committee on Industry, Research and Energy]] (ITRE), and a substitute member of the [[European Parliament Committee on Foreign Affairs|Committee on Foreign Affairs]] (AFET) and the [[European Parliament Subcommittee on Security and Defence|Subcommittee on Security and Defense]] (SEDE). As [[shadow rapporteur]], he authored reports on the evaluation of the [[European Endowment for Democracy]] (2015), on the impact of developments in European defence markets on the security and defence capabilities in Europe (2015) and on [[green growth]] opportunities for SMEs (2015).

In addition, Bütikofer was a member of the parliament's delegation for relations with the United States and the [[Transatlantic Legislators' Dialogue]] and the chair of the delegation for Relations with China.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.europarl.europa.eu/meps/en/96739/REINHARD_BUTIKOFER/history/9#detailedcardmep | title=9th parliamentary term &#124; Reinhard BÜTIKOFER &#124; MEPs &#124; European Parliament | date=26 January 1953 }}</ref> He also served as a member of the European Parliament Intergroup on SMEs.<ref>[http://www.europarl.europa.eu/pdf/intergroupes/VIII_LEG_18_SMEs_20150624.pdf Members of the European Parliament Intergroup on SMEs] [[European Parliament]].</ref>

Bütikofer was the [[The Green Group in the European Parliament|Green Group]]'s spokesperson on industrial policy, and speaker of the delegation from the German Green Party (Bündnis 90/Die Grünen) to the European Parliament.

In the negotiations to form a [[coalition government]] with the Christian Democrats – both the [[Christian Democratic Union of Germany|Christian Democratic Union]] (CDU) and the [[Christian Social Union in Bavaria]] (CSU) – and the [[Free Democratic Party (Germany)|Free Democratic Party]] (FDP) following the [[2017 German federal election|2017 national elections]], Bütikofer is currently part of the 14-member delegation of the [[Alliance 90/The Greens|Green Party]].

Following the [[2019 European Parliament election|2019 elections]], Bütikofer was part of a cross-party working group in charge of drafting the European Parliament's four-year work program on foreign policy.<ref>Florian Eder (June 13, 2019), [https://www.politico.eu/newsletter/brussels-playbook/politico-brussels-playbook-presented-by-google-madrids-moment-parliament-working-groups-sneak-peak-happy-birthday-gdpr/ POLITICO Brussels Playbook, presented by Google: Madrid’s moment — Parliament working groups sneak peak[sic] — Happy birthday, GDPR] ''[[Politico Europe]]''.</ref>

In the negotiations to form a so-called [[traffic light coalition]] of the [[Social Democratic Party of Germany|Social Democratic Party]] (SPD) and the [[Free Democratic Party (Germany)|Free Democratic Party]] (FDP) following the [[2021 German federal election|2021 federal elections]], Bütikofer was part of his party's delegation in the working group on foreign policy, defence, development cooperation and human rights, co-chaired by [[Heiko Maas]], [[Omid Nouripour]] and [[Alexander Graf Lambsdorff]].<ref>[https://www.deutschlandfunk.de/ampel-koalition-das-sind-die-verhandlungsteams-von-spd.1939.de.html?drn:news_id=1316022 Ampel-Koalition: Das sind die Verhandlungsteams von SPD, Grünen und FDP] ''[[Deutschlandfunk]]'', October 27, 2021.</ref>

Amid the [[Qatar corruption scandal at the European Parliament]], it was found that Bütikofer was, by far, the Member of the European Parliament who has travelled the most during the current legislature. These travels were financed by third parties or non EU states with, so far, a total of 22 voyages and 47 hotel nights. Among the countries he visited there are, amongst others, India, China, Russia, the United States and Australia.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.marianne.net/politique/union-europeenne/oublis-dictatures-et-tenues-traditionnelles-letonnant-registre-des-declarations-de-voyages-des-eurodeputes | title=Oublis, dictatures et tenues traditionnelles : l'Étonnant registre des déclarations de voyages des eurodéputés | date=13 February 2023 }}</ref>

In 2023, Bütikofer announced that he would not stand in the [[2024 European Parliament election|2024 elections]] but instead resign from active politics by the end of the parliamentary term.<ref>Sabine Am Orde (6 November 2023), [https://taz.de/Gruene-vor-der-Europawahl/!5970754/ Grüne vor der Europawahl: Gerangel um die besten Plätze] ''[[Die Tageszeitung]]''.</ref>

==Political views==
===On the Green Party and the German political system===
In 2005, Bütikofer complained that because Germany has no [[Plurality voting system|winner-take-all political system]], there were only a few Green party members in the foreign service, even after [[Joschka Fischer]] had been foreign minister for seven years; by contrast, hundreds of supporters of the [[Christian Democratic Union of Germany|Christian Democratic Union]] served in the [[Federal Foreign Office (Germany)|Federal Foreign Office]].<ref>Richard Bernstein (April 29, 2005), [https://www.nytimes.com/2005/04/28/world/europe/28iht-europa.html Europa: German 'second front' against Joschka Fischer] ''[[International Herald Tribune]]''.</ref> In 2010, Bütikofer characterized his party as representing “a certain lifestyle,” noting that, mostly urbanized, many belong to the professions and are politically and socially engaged. “They sit on school boards. They are active in their churches or sports clubs. They support nongovernmental organizations,” he said.<ref>[[Judy Dempsey]] (September 29, 2010), [https://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/30/world/europe/30iht-letter.html Greens in Germany Choose Path of Protest, Not Compromise] ''[[International Herald Tribune]]''.</ref>

===On public safety and civil liberties===
Under Bütikofer’s leadership, a two-year-long effort to negotiate a revised immigration law was abandoned by the Green Party in 2004, citing concerns about, among other things, that any regulations allowing easier detentions or expulsions of terror suspects would subvert Germany's civil rights protections.<ref>Richard Bernstein (May 5, 2004), [https://www.nytimes.com/2004/05/05/world/german-security-plan-falters-as-qaeda-suspect-faces-trial.html German Security Plan Falters as Qaeda Suspect Faces Trial] ''[[New York Times]]''.</ref>

===On natural resources===
When the [[European Commission]] issued a strategy paper in 2010 which proposed pursuing more bilateral trade agreements and investing in infrastructure in Africa as a means to increase alternative sources of [[Rare earth element|rare earth metals]], hoping to break China’s dominance of the market for the strategic minerals, Bütikofer demanded an “innovative industrial policy that reduces the use of resources” instead.<ref>[[Judy Dempsey]] (September 29, 2010), [https://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/26/business/global/26rare.html E.U. Seeks Strategy to Reduce Reliance on China for Rare Earths] ''[[New York Times]]''.</ref>

===On China===
When German Chancellor [[Gerhard Schröder]] announced in 2005 his intentions to lift an [[arms embargo]] on China that had been in place since the crackdown on student-led opposition demonstrators near [[Tiananmen Square]] in Beijing in 1989, Bütikofer opposed the plan and instead called for a joint approach together with the United States.<ref>Richard Bernstein (April 1, 2005), [https://www.nytimes.com/2005/03/31/world/europe/31iht-germany.html Schröder adamant on Chinese embargo] ''[[International Herald Tribune]]''.</ref>

Since 2020, Bütikofer has been serving as co-chair of the [[Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China]] (IPAC).<ref>[https://www.ipac.global/ Co-Chairs] [[Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China]] (IPAC).</ref> Also in 2020, he was one of 40 fellow Members of the European Parliament from five political groups who called for EU member states and the Commission to cut European public funding for Chinese 5G vendors [[Huawei]] and [[ZTE]] in a letter, arguing the two are "high-risk" companies that pose a security threat to network security in Europe.<ref>Laurens Cerulus and Melissa Heikkilä	(October 14, 2020), [https://www.politico.eu/article/meps-call-for-stop-to-public-funding-for-china-telecoms-huawei-zte/ EU lawmakers brand Huawei, ZTE ‘high-risk’ 5G vendors] ''[[Politico Europe]]''.</ref>

On 22 March 2021, he was [[Chinese sanctions|sanctioned]] by the Chinese government after the European Union imposed sanctions on China over [[Xinjiang]].<ref name="d210322">{{Cite web |date=22 March 2021 |title=外交部发言人宣布中方对欧盟有关机构和人员实施制裁 |trans-title=Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Announces China's Imposition of Sanctions on Relevant EU Institutions and Personnel |url=https://www.fmprc.gov.cn/web/fyrbt_673021/t1863102.shtml |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210520211527/https://www.fmprc.gov.cn/web/fyrbt_673021/t1863102.shtml |archive-date=2021-05-20 |accessdate=2021-04-03 |work=[[Ministry of Foreign Affairs (China)|Ministry of Foreign Affairs]]}}</ref>

===On Russia===
Following the assassination of journalist and human rights activist [[Anna Politkovskaya]] in 2008, Bütikofer characterized the human rights situation in Russia as "deteriorating". He also criticized Russia's behaviour towards Georgia as "almost unbelievably arrogant", referring to the country's confrontation with Georgia and its decision to sever all transport and postal links in 2008. He is an advocate of "a more open and more clear-cut language from the West, including Germany [...] if we just don't want to be standing by."<ref>[[Judy Dempsey]] (October 8, 2008), [https://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/08/world/europe/08iht-berlin.3071780.html From Germany, a call to press Russia on rights] ''[[International Herald Tribune]]''.</ref>

==Other activities==
* [[European Council on Foreign Relations]] (ECFR), Member (since 2021)<ref>[http://www.ecfr.eu/council/members Members] [[European Council on Foreign Relations]].</ref>
* Center for Global Politics (CGP), [[Free University of Berlin]], Member of the Advisory Board<ref>[http://www.global-politics.org/about-us/advisory-board/polenz-ruprecht-profile/index.html Reinhard Bütikofer] Center for Global Politics (CGP), [[Free University of Berlin]].</ref>
* [[EastWest Institute]], Member of the Parliamentarians Network for Conflict Prevention<ref>[http://pncp.info/members Members] [[EastWest Institute]], Parliamentarians Network for Conflict Prevention.</ref>
* [[European Business Summit]] (EBS), Member of the Honorary Committee
* European Endowment For Democracy (EED), Member of the Board of Governors
* [[American Jewish Committee]]’s Ramer Institute Berlin, Member of the Advisory Board
* [[Heinrich Böll Foundation]], Member of the Europe/Transatlantic Advisory Board 
* [[Green European Foundation]], Member of the General Assembly

In addition, Bütikofer served on the board of Europa-Union Deutschland, the German branch of the [[Union of European Federalists (UEF)]], Aspen Institute Berlin, and German-Chinese Dialogue Forum. He is a member of the [[Green European Foundation]], the [[International Institute for Strategic Studies]], the [[Deutsche Gesellschaft für auswärtige Politik|German Council for Foreign Relations]], the [[Naturschutzbund Deutschland|Nature and Biodiversity Conservation Union (NABU)]], and the German trade union [[ver.di]].

==Recognition==
In November 2011, Bütikofer was honored with the Fray International Sustainability Award at Fray International Symposium in Cancún, Mexico, for his achievements in sustainable development in politics.<ref>{{cite web|title=Hon. Reinhard Bütikofer is honored with the Fray International Sustainability Award in Cancun, Mexico|url=http://www.flogen.org/awards.php?spage=2&sp=1&sp2=Reinhard_Butikofer_SIPS2011|website=www.flogen.org|publisher=FLOGEN Star OUTREACH|access-date=19 February 2018|language=en}}</ref>

==Personal life==
Bütikofer's father was a post office worker and his mother was a housewife. He has fathered three daughters with Henriette Katzenstein. In 2001, he married Renee Krebs.

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{commons}}
{{Portal|European Union}}
*[https://www.reinhardbuetikofer.eu/vita/ Reinhard Bütikofer's website, both German and English vita]
*{{YouTube|user=ReinhardBuetikofer|title=Reinhard Bütikofer}} with comments and plenary speeches
*[http://www.europarl.europa.eu/meps/en/96739/REINHARD_BUTIKOFER_activities.html Reinhard Bütikofer's parliamentary activities]

{{Alliance 90/The Greens}}
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[[Category:1953 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Politicians from Mannheim]]
[[Category:Leaders of political parties in Germany]]
[[Category:Communist League of West Germany politicians]]
[[Category:Alliance 90/The Greens politicians]]
[[Category:German individuals subject to Chinese sanctions]]
[[Category:Heidelberg University alumni]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Order of Merit of Baden-Württemberg]]
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